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Idaho Stoops to a New Low: Baiting Bears with Dog Food
by David Gaillard
The hypocrisy is palpable. On the one hand, state and federal agencies are finally having some success convincing the public not to feed bears or other wildlife because it will "condition" them toassociate people with food, which will lead to further conflicts, safetyrisks to people, and eventual destruction of the bear. As the saying goes,"A fed bear is a dead bear."
On the other hand, the Idaho Fish and Game Department just decided to not only allow "bait stations" in Idaho's Clearwater country to attract black bears, but also to promote this practice by purchasing and distributing dog food to stock these bait stations! What century is this? By comparison, Montana outlawed bear baiting in 1921. Bear baiting is still allowed in Wyoming, but it is now under scrutiny after a black bear hunter mistakenly killed a grizzly bear at a bait station in early May.
Feeding bears with dog food is the latest chapter in Idaho's misguided predator policy to try and reverse a decline in elk numbers in the Clearwater region of central Idaho (see Home Range, Spring 2001). A previous incarnation of this policy was to hire staff from USDA's Wildlife Services to kill black bears and mountain lions in this rugged and beautiful area. Predator Conservation Alliance, Friends of the Clearwater and other groups successfully thwarted this plan, thanks to a groundswell of letters and phone calls from PCA members, volunteers and colleagues.
There is no question that black bears kill elk in this area, yet is killing black bears the answer to decreased elk numbers? Research has shown that while bears may be killing elk calves in the region, the poor condition of these calves indicates that many would have died anyway due to starvation, disease, weather, or other natural causes. As retired University of Idaho wildlife professor Jim Peek wrote in a recent editorial, "The issue has been a habitat problem first and foremost; it has been recognized as being a habitat problem for decades… Clearwater elk decline is fundamentally attributable to habitat, and the efforts to cure it by killing off elk predators are akin to curing the common cold with an aspirin."
Nature may not be just, but nature is resilient. Black bears, elk and other wildlife have learned to adapt to these changes. Wildlife have had less success adapting to irresponsible human behavior, such as leaving piles of dog food in the forest and killing all the bears curious enough to show up. PCA will continue to fight for the use of science-based management practices, and not ones based on using predators as scapegoats for other problems.
black bear| forest
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