PLEASE STOP THE KILLING OF BEARS

This bear cub was strangled to death with a wire snare intended for its mother. It was then hung on the post with the hope that she would return to look for it and then be killed. This is an example of the brutality of many of our so-called “sportsmen.”

Murdered baby bear.
Photo by Stan Pabst

Bears are irresistibly drawn to “bait” because they require 20,000 calories a day if they are to survive the winter. This may be very difficult since 90% of their diet consists of nuts, berries, roots and other types of vegetation. By “baiting” so-called “sportsmen” can make easy “kills.”

The photograph below, taken in a forest northeast of Parry Sound, shows the ease of approaching a bear when food is abundant. Even though the photographer was only about five feet away, the bear’s overpowering need to build up his energy reserves overcame his instinctive fear of humans.

Stan Pabst’s organization is Friends of the Bears. He is in Ontario, Canada, phone: 705-389-1777. We encourage you to contact him. Please see “Other Organizations” section of this newsletter.

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Stan also wrote:

Dear Anne:

Things have gone from bad to worse with regard to bear hunting. Young bear cubs are being killed, put on a stake to lure the mother to their certain demise. Fish hooks and razor blades are being placed in the bait. This is called “American style hunting,” but their Canadian counterparts are quick learners. Bear parts are being traded in summer camps for illegal drugs. Enclosed are a few pictures.

Photo by Stan Pabst

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Many thanks to Joe Miele, NJ Field Rep for C.A.S.H. for the following alert:

New Jersey’s black bears are in jeopardy of being hunted for the first time in thirty years.

If the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife gets its way, ten thousand permits to kill bears of all ages will be given out to hunters, many of whom have no bear hunting experience.

While mayor of Woodbridge in 2000, current Governor Jim McGreevey opposed the bear hunt that was called for by Fish & Wildlife. At the eleventh hour, the hunt was stopped after Governor Christine Whitman asked the Fish & Game council to reconsider their plans for a hunt. Since that time, Fish & Wildlife has been spreading fear and hysteria among the public in an attempt to justify a bear hunt. Their feeble attempts at education could more accurately be described as ways to make the public afraid of black bears. After saying that their public educational programs have not worked, the Fish and Game Council recently approved the first bear hunt in New Jersey in thirty years, to coincide with the fall bow hunting season.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Call Governor McGreevey at (609) 292-6000; or e-mail him through his web page at http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html  and tell him that you want the hunt stopped! Tell the governor that you wish for him to honor his word and force the Fish & Game Council to cancel the hunt, just as they did in 2000.