Bears - IUCN

I hope that we can assist Professor Inukai in dealing with the very serious
problem of agricultural depredation and loss of human life, without having to
exterminate the brown bear on Hokkaido.
After the wilderness has been tamed, after modern technological man has
established himself, we know that a different attitude may develop toward
brown and grizzly bears. Preserved in parks or game refuges these bears
become part of our wildlife and indeed our cultural heritage. People may
travel thousands of miles for just one glimpse of the magnificent grizzly.
Can a significent portion of the brown bear population on Hokkaido be preserved
for the value we know they will have in the future ? Surely our present
day knowledge of the biology of the brown bear should be sufficient to allow
effective management of this population without its extermination.
R. Demarchi. I've had a talk with Professor Inukai about his problem and I
have suggested several methods that are being tried on species varying from
coyotes to coddling moths in North America. I asked him also if there was an
area where the bears could be preserved, say a natural sanctuary free from
human influence and he said no there wasn't but there were areas where there
could be zones created, varying from complete extermination of the bear to
areas where bears and human beings could co-exist. Now, I'm not an expert
in bear management or control but I'm in the business of protecting wildlife
as a wild life manager and, at the same time, allowing public use of the wildlife
resource. Professor Inukai's problem, I think, is one of non-compatibility between
bears and human beings where, if it's allowed to continue, it will bring
about the probable complete extermination of this unique population of bears.
I'll give you some of the ideas that I've given to Professor Inukai and if anyone
cares to carry it any further, I welcome your comments.
No. 1. To zone the areas right now so that you have these various degrees of
control. There would also have to be ongoing research.
No. 2. In complete extermination areas, which we don't like to really think
about but apparently are necessary, I have recommended the use of professional
hunters rather than bounty systems, the use of sterilization of males and their
release into the population, and chemical hormones to control the productivity
of females.
No. 3. In areas where human beings and bears will be tolerated at varying
degrees, I have recommended that he promote the sport hunting of these bears.
If he can establish a strong use group he may get into a situation where the
hunters themselves, will want to conserve this population for their use—selfish
or otherwise. I don't think it's very important at this stage of the game.
J. Craighead. I realize the importance of trying to get some suggestions and
answers to a problem of this type but it would seem to me that in order to
really give some constructive suggestions, we need to know the size of the
area of the habitat of these bears on the island and the size of this in relation
to the rest of the island and land use practices; the human population density
and distribution on this particular island and how it's related to the bear population;
the economics of the area, how the people make a living, what things
are they interested in, would they be interested in exploiting this population for
hunting and so on. Also important is what values the Japanese people place on
this population of bears. It's a unique population but what you would do with it
or what you would suggest doing with it, would, in a large measure I think, depend
on what values the Japanese people both on the island and the other islands,
place on it. When we know the answer to some of these questions, I don't think
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