Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 8, 1992 TAG: 9203090235
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"The state of Virginia cannot continue to harvest bears under the current, extremely liberal, hunting regulations without adversely affecting its bear population," said Michael Schrage.
The addition of a chase season would bring still more pressure on these big animals, he said.
"It won't be a problem in a year with lots of food, but in a year when the food supply is limited or spread out and the bears are having to work harder to put on more fat for the winter, running them with hounds for a number of miles could be an energetic stress on them," said Schrage.
The chase season also has potential for separating a female from her her cubs, which could be life threatening for the young animals, he said.
Schrage is conducting research to measure the impact of the gypsy moth infestation on the black bear in the Shenandoah National Park. The counties surrounding the 300-square mile park supply roughly 50 percent of the state's bear kill, he said.
The majority of the bears taken outside the park by hunters are young, lightweight animals, said Schrage, something he calls a classic biological symptom of an overexploited population.
Schrage became annoyied when he read recent stories in this newspaper where Bob Duncan, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries game division chief, said the bear population is healthy.
Virginia has seen a record bear kill eight of the last nine hunting seasons, including the past season when it reached 657. But there was a 50 percent decline during the 1990 season, which Duncan said was the result of a poor food crop that sent bears into dens early.
"This is a fallacy," charged Schrage, who said he monitored the movements of 17 bears with radio collars that year.
"In 1990 most bears in the park did not den until after Christmas, long after the start of the bear season. A number of bears remained active all winter long. Whatever the reason for the drop in the bear harvest of 1990, it cannot be blamed on an early hibernation date."
Schrage admits that he doesn't have conclusive data on the well-being of the state's bear population.
"But I don't think the evidence is there for somebody to say that the bear population is healthy. From what I have seen it doesn't look good. The state doesn't know. They don't even know how many bear hunters are out there."
Liberal hunting regulations combined with declining habitat can be a double whammy for bears, Schrage said.
"The habitat that is out there is getting more and more fragmented by urban and suburban development. You can just see that by looking off the overlooks in the Shenandoah Park."
Describing himself as a man who enjoys hunting, Schrage said he isn't advocating that Virginia shut down bear hunting.
"But I would like to see it regulated better. It worries me that this state has had so many record bear harvests in the last few years. It could be that the population is expanding, but the state doesn't know that. Or it could be more hunters chasing fewer bears."
by CNB