It’s Extermination, Not Sport : High-tech bear hunting has no place in California

Grizzly bears, also known as brown bears, were once so common in California that early settlers put their likeness on the state flag. Now, sadly, that’s the only place in California where grizzlies are left. The last known grizzly in the state fell to a rancher’s rifle 70 years ago. Now California could lose its remaining black bears as well.

There are perhaps 15,000 black bears still left in the state, but they are among the slowest-reproducing animals in North America and their numbers are dwindling. The legal kill of black bears totaled over 1,200 in 1991 and 1992. The illegal kill, fueled by a lucrative trade in bear parts, may exceed the legal figure. Habitat loss and degradation further threaten the black bear’s numbers.

In recent decades bear hunting has gone high-tech. According to the state Department of Fish and Game, more than 70% of successful bear hunters use packs of hounds. Many of these hounds are fitted with radio transmitters to track them as they run. When the dogs have chased a bear up a tree, the hunter follows the radio signal to the bear and shoots it from point-blank range.

This is extermination, not sport. That’s why Sen. Nicholas C. Petris (D-Oakland) has introduced legislation that would end the sport hunting of black bears with hounds.

The use of baited traps to lure and kill big game has long been illegal in California and in some other states. California voters permanently outlawed the hunting of mountain lions in the state in 1990, and Colorado voters overwhelming outlawed the use of radio-equipped dogs to hunt bears the same year. Petris’ bill follows Colorado’s lead, permitting the practice only when the bear is dangerous or a nuisance. This measure will be heard in the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee next month. It deserves speedy passage.