Dear Mr. Bradley,

I read your response (Wildlife responders program a poorly camouflaged grizzly hunt?) to the announcement of the grizzly cull recently announced by Minister Loewen. 

I live in a small village in huge Alberta and hunted for 30 years. Most of my hunting was in the local area but some was in the foothills and mountains. I am retired and had to give up hunting as I aged.

In the local areas I hunted I don’t ever recall seeing a bear of any kind. Once in a while some people who live along the local river have on rare occasions seen a black bear, moose, wild cat and, of course, deer.

In huge Alberta, the area near where I live, bear habitat is very narrow, only a few miles wide. It is also where a very large population of people (well over 1 million) live all within a couple hours’ drive. Because of this close proximity, bear and people conflicts are common. There are many campers and hikers that use the shared area, in designated areas.

Wild animals, especially carnivores, can become habituated to commercial and domestic animals as an easy food source. Hunting the carnivores is one tool used in wildlife management that helps keep that wildlife wary of humans. A prime example of this was, even in our area, the banning of hunting coyotes with dogs. Since coyote hunting with dogs has been banned, coyotes have been regularly taking cats and dogs—right in cities, towns and villages. They have no fear of humans. When hunting coyotes was prevalent, if you were driving down a rural road and saw a ‘yote and stopped, it was immediately on the run, leaving the area. Now it just stands and looks at you, and even will sometimes approach your vehicle.

As a former hunter I appreciate the hunting opportunities that I had and strongly support the preservation of wildlife and habitat. Without either I would not have been able to pursue my favourite pastime. I surely do not want to see either destroyed unnecessarily but do know there are times and instances when it becomes necessary.

Due to government cutbacks there are fewer wildlife officers and those that remain are usually overworked. Sometimes it becomes necessary to get help, as in the Chronic Wasting Disease situation in deer. 

I support the decision taken [to create the wildlife responders program], even though it means the loss of some wildlife.

M. Paul Matlock, Alberta

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