California rejects ban on bear hunting, sides with biologists

California wildlife regulators rejected a request by animal welfare advocates to ban the hunting of black bears on Thursday.

The California Fish and Game Commission voted 3-0 against the move by the Humane Society of the United States to stop the fall bear hunting season – its second attempt in less than two years.

The Humane Society argued that California’s bear population may have been harmed by the wildfires that had ravaged the state.

However, the commissioners sided with state biologists who said that the bear population had grown steadily over the past few decades to the point bears had expanded into new areas they had not been. The scientists also presented data they said showed “conclusively that California’s beat population is not experiencing a decline, and current evaluations may even be underestimating the population.

California’s bear population is estimated to be about 30,000 to 40,000 statewide.

The Human Society have made other attempts to stop bear hunting, such as sponsoring a bill by State Sen. Scott Wiener last spring that would have permanently banned bear hunting.

The San Francisco Democrat withdrew the bill after hunting associations organized to oppose it. Hunters argued that hunting bears was not cruel as framed by activists, but respectful of nature. They are legally forbidden from wasting bear meat, which they save and eat, and can be cited for shooting female bears with young cubs.

The number of bear hunting permits is set with conservation in mind, and the fees are an important source of revenue for the state’s wildlife agency. 31,540 hunters bought permits to hunt bears last fall season, generating almost $1.5 million to put toward wildlife management and habitat preservation.

However, the hunters reported killing only 1,186 bears.