To the editor:

The July 2017 article entitled “Where Are All These Bears Coming From?” demands a response to correct misapprehensions.

First, review of the peer-reviewed scientific literature on the subject of bear-human conflict shows that bear hunting does not reduce the incidence of problem bears. Hunters rarely kill bears that have taken to living near human habitation, and they target the adults who teach their young their way of life, leaving behind cubs inexperienced in native foraging that are then driven out of hunger toward easy meals provided by human trash, bird feeders and livestock. Hunting techniques advocated by DEEP include shooting bears over bait, with the bait (typically doughnuts) serving as an incentive to seek human-produced foods. Such activity creates a self-perpetuating loop wherein adults are killed, young animals are left to fend for themselves, they conflict with humans and the call for more killing is advanced.

DEEP and bear-hunting advocates ignore the ecology of bears and the most basic ecological concept of carrying capacity: as with all natural populations, the environment and social interactions limit population size to that which can be supported by their habitat. They also ignore the keystone role of bears in the dispersal of plants around the landscape through their feeding behaviors.

The problem is not the bears themselves, but the refusal of some people who live in the rural world to take proper precautions to limit bear-human conflicts. Furthermore, human injury by black bear is incredibly rare, even though there are countless human-bear interactions every year. Everyone knows the simple steps to keep bears away from their property.

Secondly, while I understand that the town clerk, as the town’s keeper of statistics, wants residents to report bear sightings for the sake of accuracy, such reporting supports DEEP’s advocacy of an annual bear hunt in Connecticut.

Lastly, to the resident who fears for the safety of his grandchildren, I can only offer common sense: teach your grandchildren the ways of nature and the rural world, instead of insisting that we sanitize the countryside of all possible risk. The bears were here before us, and they have the right to live out their lives without being shot and killed.

The rural way of life is one of closeness to nature. Embrace it. If you don’t want a bear hunt in Connecticut, don’t report bear sightings. If you don’t like nature, move to the suburbs.

It’s up to us to defend these magnificent creatures and their keystone role in our environment.

Harry White
Forest Ecologist