You claim to have a degree in Wildlife Management?
Really?
From what school might I ask?
I actually do have degrees in both wildlife & fisheries management.
And I know a great many others who hold similar or the same.
None of them would ever be so confused as to ask the types of questions you posed on this forum:
... Sheep, moose, elk, bears and wolves have co-habitated together for thousands of years. If an animal is being decimated we have to ask what has changed in their environment. As the APEX predator, MAN has a key role to play in how we manage our resources to ensure they are sustainable and thriving for many years to come. The shooting of bears is short sighted and a reaction and not a solution.
If you were trained in wildlife management, you should understand that every single species on this planet has been effected one way or another by us and our actions. Chiefly most are effected in a negative manner as we consume their habitats, winter range etc etc at an ever increasing rate. Thus, there is no such thing as a "
natural balance" as your post so blithely suggests. In fact, there never really was a balance as most understand that descriptor, but rather cycles of various levels of booms followed by cycles of busts for the vast majority of populations.
The purpose of wildlife management today is to try and strike a balance between the various populations, and us, in light of ever increasing pressures on those populations. We largely caused the imbalances, and therefore it is up to us to utilize the best science possible to try and alleviate that to the extent we can.
Managing predators is very much a part of that puzzle, including bears. When afforded blanket protection (as has been foolishly done in the case of BC & Alberta Grizzlies) there is usually a reasonably swift response as the populations increase in an unchecked manner. Given the amount of damage predators (including bears) can inflict on ungulate populations, it is not surprising that under these conditions, those ungulate populations will suffer. The observations I made on the hunt described previously mesh with this synopsis perfectly.
Many pretend to understand the dynamics of wildlife populations, and the management thereof. What most of the armchair crowd fail to recognize is that every single action we take has ramifications for the whole. And in the case of predators, that effect can be swift, and if unanswered, very long lasting indeed.
It will not take overly long for many of BC's ungulate populations to indicate the signs that they simply will not be able to stand up to the increased pressure affording blanket protection to predators causes. Hopefully we will recognize that before the situation becomes critical for most, and take steps to once again properly manage bears etc by means of the best science available. And yes btw, that often includes the removal of individuals via hunting and shooting. My opinion is that utilizing proper, legally sanctioned hunting as a management tool is far superior to having to engage government employees to deal with the issues as they arise as "
problems".
Obviously your mileage may vary...
Cheers,
Nog
