Weekend bear scare in suburbia doesn’t surprise O.F.A.H.

Weekend bear scare in suburbia doesn’t surprise O.F.A.H.

Six years after politics killed the spring bear hunt, a major public safety issue has come sauntering into town. This past weekend in Newmarket, a costly operation involving a helicopter, several police officers, fire equipment and a tranquilizer gun resulted in a 10-hour suburban bear hunt. Just a couple of days before, a black bear was killed by police near an elementary school in the heart of Peterborough.

“These two incidents are only the beginning of another season of nuisance bear hysteria in both northern and southern Ontario,” said Robert Pye, communications coordinator for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (O.F.A.H.) As the O.F.A.H. predicted, bears are expanding their range into parts of southern Ontario, including Newmarket and Peterborough