Despite strong opposition, the Missouri Conservation Commission approved a bear trophy hunting season on December 11, 2020.

The hunting season will start in October 2021. It's been over a hundred years since bears were hunted in the state, and it is hunting that pushed them to the brink of extinction. The driving force behind the Commission's decision is Safari Club International (SCI), the world's largest trophy hunting organization. The approved bear hunt plan includes the sale of 400 permits and allows trophy hunters to kill mother bears and cubs.

This hunt has nothing to do with conservation. It has to do with appeasing special interest groups while ignoring sound science and the majority of Missourians' who oppose this trophy hunt.

The fight to save Missouri bears is not over. Stay tuned for calls-to-action!

Email the Commissioners now & tell them why the hunt should be stopped.
https://mdc.mo.gov/about-us/conservation-commission/current-conservation-commissioners

https://www.beardefenders.org

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Facts & Non-lethal Solutions 

*Bears regulate their own populations through a biological process known as delayed implantation. Delayed implantation allows bears to control their populations. When food is abundant, more bears will be born. When there is a lack of abundant food sources, female bears will not reproduce every two years, but alternatively, every three to four years. 

*Deforestation is responsible for the loss of critical bear habitat. Land development and bear attractants such as unsecured trash are most likely the cause of increased bear-human conflicts, not overpopulation.

*Research shows that eliminating bear attractants and securing trash in bear-proof trash cans can reduce or eliminate bear conflicts by over 90%.

Articles

12/11/2020 - https://fox2now.com/news/missouri-conservation-commission-approves-bear-hunting/

09/4/2020 - https://www.californiademocrat.com/news/local/story/2020/sep/05/missouri-conservation-department-proposes-bear-hunting-framework/840209/

05/18/2020 - https://krcgtv.com/news/local/mdc-asks-for-publics-input-on-black-bear-hunting-season-exclusively-for-missourians