Bear relocation has not been effective, which is why the province is scrapping it from the Bear Wise program, says Minister of Natural Resources Michael Gravelle.
However, the MNR will still assist local police when nuisance bears present problems in populated areas.
“Certainly we’re keeping the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week hotline so that people can call in if they have a concern about a bear in the area or a human-bear conflict. We’re keeping the website up,” Gravelle said.
“We’re also maintaining a staff of senior bear technicians so that if there’s an emergency situation, the police are involved and they’re looking for some help or advice about whether or not a bear needs to be mobilized, that is still in place. But we are making adjustment to some of the ministry work of the past.”
In 2011 the MNR trapped and relocated more than 600 bears.
But the vast majority simply made their way back to where they originated from, Gravelle said, calling bear relocation the least effective part of the program, which Ontarians have spent $33 million on since its 2004 inception.
“They simply came back to the location in almost all cases. It was thought that the trapping and relocation program did not work,” Gravelle said.
Joe Hamr, a wildlife biologist at Sudbury’s Cambrian College, said relocation works well with juveniles younger than two and most young bears between ages two and four.
However, it’s much less effective on older animals.
“These bears do not have well-established home ranges and their homing drive is relatively weak,” Hamr said via email. “You need to relocate these bears between 60 and 100 kilometres from capture sites to make relocation effective.”
Hamr, who took part in an extensive study of bears and their ranges, said adult bears will return to capture spots from great distances, including one adult female who returned to Sudbury after being relocated near Hearst, some 390 kilometres away.
Hamr said the MNR’s decision is obviously a cost-saving measure.
“You require a lot of manpower – a minimum of two people per crew – vehicles, gasoline, a trailer and traps and constant equipment maintenance. You also need a communication person almost on a 24-hour basis to respond to public complaints and record the co-ordinates of bear incidents,” Hamr said.
The down side is that more bears will likely be needlessly shot if removal is left to the OPP or local police forces.
“Police officers are generally ignorant about bears and consider every animal an immediate threat,” he said, noting about half the nuisance bear problems faced in Sudbury between 1996 and 2004 occurred with bears under five years of age. That makes them ideal candidates for relocation, but only if capture crews are capable of determining how old a bear is when reported.
Edward Evens, an Ontario Public Sector Employee Union spokesman, said he’s concerned the scrapping of the relocation program will mean the loss of jobs.
But more so, he’s worried about public safety, which he said will be at risk.
“There will be several locations that don’t have any bear technicians at all in this region. Sioux Lookout is one of them. Ignace, Red Lake and Kenora will only have one technician. Nipigon is down to one technician this year,” Evens said.
“And Thunder Bay is actually losing two technicians, so they will only have the one doing the work this summer.”
While the Bear Wise toll-free number will still be in place, Evens said the advice will be more preventative in nature – telling callers to ensure there’s no garbage or food lying around their property.
“If they feel their safety will be at risk, they’ll be told to call 911 and the local police.”
That’s news to the OPP.
In a release issued on Tuesday, Const. Kenneth Stableford said the OPP will only assist the MNR on calls.
“Do not call 911 to report bear sightings, contact the Ministry of Natural Resources Bear Wise program,” he said.
Wildlife expert and Thunder Bay Source columnist Mick Bohonis said the decision to end the bear relocation program was not the right one to make.
“It's too bad our MNR is passing the buck. Police have enough crap to do let alone deal with bears. The MNR is trained for this, the police are not,” Bohonis said.
Hamr said there are ways to convince bears to move on, but using caution is the smartest approach.
“Most bears are timid and afraid of people. I’ve always been able to chase bears away from my place just by yelling at them or making other types of loud noises, at a safe distance. People should not approach bears.”
