Tell Missouri Department of Conservation not to allow trophy hunting of black bears

The Missouri Department of Conservation would have you believe its proposed black bear hunt is a science-based management tool and recreational opportunity. The department estimates the bear population between 540 and 840. You don’t need a biology or math degree to recognize that range as highly uncertain.

The conservation department proposes issuing 250-500 kill permits, which in tandem with the questionable accuracy of their population estimates, is highly suspect. I have worked in wildlife conservation for 15 years and have three degrees in wildlife ecology, behavior and management. No level of scientific or magical thinking convinces me to see this thinly veiled proposal as anything but an egregious trophy hunt.

Why do I contend that this is a trophy hunt? First, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Safari Club International Foundation paid for the dubious research into Missouri’s black bear numbers. Safari Club International is a major global lobbyist for trophy hunting. Trusting its research is like getting a cancer screening from Philip Morris International.

Second, bears are rarely hunted for anything other than trophies. Very few people eat bear meat. When asked about preparing bear meat, wild game cookbook author Hank Shaw replied, “When you cook it, it’s going to be like low tide on a hot day.” I grew up on wild game. On Thanksgiving, we were grateful for the animals my uncles and cousins harvested from the wild spaces in between our corn, soybean and wheat fields: pheasant, turkey, quail, goose and venison. I’m certain that not many folks are placing bear on their Thanksgiving tables.

To counter any notion that this is a trophy hunt, the conservation department claims that it’s requiring folks to use the commonly edible portions of the bear. How does the department plan to enforce such a regulation? I guess it has updated its wildlife manager job descriptions to include spoon-feeding.

If most hunters are not going to eat bear meat, or if they don’t intend to violate the law and sell the gallbladders on the black market (which can fetch four times their weight in gold), why else would they want to hunt a black bear? Perhaps they believe they are helping manage the bear population or reducing conflict with people. Science counters those uninformed ideas. Human-bear conflict is rare, and when it does occur, it is best fixed with non-lethal tools directed to the specific situations and individuals involved. In these cases, common sense prevails. If you have a bear at your bird feeder, the simple fix is to remove the tempting feeder rather than the bear. Bears, like birds, are wild and can find their own food.

Bear populations grow very slowly. They self-regulate and do not need humans’ hapless attempts at regulation. The conservation department claims it is protecting the population by prohibiting killing “lone black bears” when hunters “know or reasonably should have known (they are) in the presence of one (1) or more other bears, including female black bears with cubs.” This regulation is again unenforceable, and would do nothing to protect cubs or mothers if they are not simultaneously within the hunter’s eyesight.

I’m not alone in finding the Missouri Department of Conservation proposed trophy bear hunt unethical, unjustified and simply unpalatable. The majority of Missourians enjoys seeing bears alive in their natural environments (as do tourists). They do not support this hunt, as evidenced by a 2019 poll conducted by the Remington Research Group — as well as previous rounds of public input that the department has ignored.

Bears belong in Missouri, alive, unexploited and able to contribute their important economic role in Missouri’s outdoor economy and their ecological role in Missouri’s natural heritage.

Voice your opinion. Visit mdc.mo.gov’s “Black Bear Management in Missouri” under “Public Comment Opportunities.”

Michelle L. Lute is national carnivore conservation manager for the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Earth Island Institute’s Project Coyote. She has a PhD in wildlife management and works across the U.S. to promote science-based wildlife conservation.

This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Tell Missouri Department of Conservation not to allow trophy hunting of black bears."