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Qikiqtarjuaq cancels polar bear hunt on first day Ban on killing females imposed after high number of defence kills, broken Oct. 15Casey Lessard Northern News Services Monday, Oct 22, 2012
Going into the hunt, the hamlet's original annual quota of 25 had fallen to nine, including four for the fall, which were drawn Oct. 14. "Three of these four tags were harvested, two of which were males and one of which was female," Alookie said. "Because of that female, we had to call off the hunt and the HTO forfeited the winter hunt. There's no more polar bear hunting for the community of Qikiqtarjuaq." The ban on killing female bears came after a high number of defence kills of bears that had entered the hamlet the previous year. The hamlet's normal quota of 30 fell to 25 for 2012-13, and then fell progressively ahead of the fall hunt. "Due to the defence kills (in late 2011), it went down to 25, then 14, and then because of the defence kills this summer, it went down to nine," he said. The HTO set aside four for the fall and five for the winter, but the board informed hunters Oct. 14 that the remainder of the hunt would be cancelled if any female bears were killed. "We don't want to overharvest any wildlife that are on the quota system," Alookie said. "The hunters and the board respect those rules implemented both by the territorial and federal governments. We didn't overharvest, and that's what matters. It's under control." That said, dropping the quota from 30 in a normal year to three kills this year is a blow to the local economy and to the country food supply, although the hamlet distributes the meat from bears killed in defence near the community, as long as it is safe to eat. Alookie said many new hunters are still learning to recognize the differences between the sexes. "I only saw it in the picture, and I knew that it was a female," he said. "There were indicators." He said elders have been making radio broadcasts to explain the differences, and the HTO has a booklet for new hunters. "The large males are huge with lots of muscles, but the females, if they are huge, they tend to be fat," he said, noting the differences are less pronounced in young bears. "The majority of times, the large males have scars on their nose and head from the mating season. The large males have very furry feet and males are usually lean with a huge head. Females tend to be smaller than the males. When they're running off, you're able to tell because the males are twice as slow as females." The cancellation of the hunt underscores the challenges faced as bears become more attracted to the community, he said. "There are so many polar bears that normally come by the community, and we can't avoid the defence kills either at the summer camps or the cabins throughout the year, especially in summer," he said. "The community is very concerned because there are a lot more polar bears on their way. There are always polar bears who go right into the community, and the members of the community have no choice but to put down these polar bears." The HTO and Department of Environment are working together to enhance polar bear monitoring ahead of the coming freeze-up. The department has hired a casual worker to support the community conservation officer. The GN and the HTO, which has a bear plan in place, will work to use deterrence measures in hopes of avoiding defence kills, said Jimmy Noble, senior manager of operations for Environment's wildlife division. "They still have six male credits, so if it's males, they're okay," Noble said. "If they go over the female quota, they get deducted for the following year. This was an HTO initiative so they don't get a reduction for next year." Defence kills will still count against the quota, he said.
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