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Stay of Execution for Maryland's Bears?

November 12, 2007

Last month, Maryland's vulnerable bear population was a target for trophy hunters. Fifty-one bears died because Governor Martin O'Malley did not step in and grant them a stay of execution.

Black bears were once nearly extinct in Maryland. By 1953, indiscriminate killing left only 12 animals in the entire state, prompting authorities to halt bear hunting for 51 years to allow the bear population to recover.

Black bears returned slowly, and in 1972, they were declared an endangered species in the state.

Vulnerable Population Targeted

In 2004, then-Governor Robert Ehrlich broke with 51 years of careful protections and initiated a bear hunt.

A 10-month-old, 84-pound cub was the first bear killed in 2004. After her death, 100 more bears were killed in the state's three bear hunts.

Take Action

If you live in Maryland, please ask the Governor to cancel this trophy hunt.

In 2004, the Department of Natural Resources estimated the bear population at between 266 to 437 animals, concentrated in the western region of the state. The impact of three years of trophy hunting on the health and stability of this still-fragile population remains unknown.

Trophy Hunt No Solution to Conflicts

The most effective methods shown to alleviate human-bear conflicts are non-lethal techniques carried out by officials that condition bears to avoid humans. Data even suggests that hunting actually increases the number of bear-human conflicts.

Facts

» Bear attacks are very rare. No person has been killed by a bear in Maryland in the history of the state.

» In 2004, Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies conducted a poll for the Fund for Animals and found that 57 percent of respondents in Maryland opposed a bear hunt, with 36 percent of them strongly opposing the hunt.

In 2004, The Humane Society of the United States and the Fund For Animals offered Maryland $75,000 to compensate landowners for any damage caused by bears if the hunt were called off. The good-faith offer was flatly rejected.

“It is clear that the DNR is not seeking to solve bear conflicts in western Maryland, but simply to put bears in trophy hunters’ sights,” said Mike Markarian, executive vice president of The HSUS, at the time.

Cancel the Trophy Hunt

It is time for Governor O'Malley to reinstate Maryland's tradition of protecting our bears. The HSUS placed three full-page ads in The Baltimore Sun in October asking him to do just that.

If you live in Maryland, please call the Governor and ask him to cancel this trophy hunt.