The Wolf and Bear Bounty Act, in addition to the provisions of the previous 

 regulation, provided for a $5 bounty on bears under 12 months of age and the 

 Regulations made under the Act provided for a uniform method of marking 

 the bear skin, presented as evidence, to prevent its submission again for bounty. 



While the procedures and forms for bear bounty were reorganized in 

 1947/48, the provisions of the Act and Regulations pretty well remained un- 

 changed to the date on which bounty was discontinued. An exception was the 

 addition in 1950, of the County of Lanark to the areas in which bear bounty 

 applied. 



In June 1961, the bear was protected under the Game and Fisheries Act 

 and provision was made for a Resident Licence to hunt bear as big game. 



It was then decided to revoke the Regulations made under the Wolf and 

 Bear Bounty Act which defined the areas of the Province in which bear bounty 

 applied, thereby discontinuing the payment of bounty on bears. 



The following table shows the number of bears killed and the amount of 

 bounty paid from the inception of Bear Bounty in 1942 to its discontinuation 

 in 1961: 



BEAR BOUNTY 



NOTE: 



1. The difference between the number of bears killed and the amount of 

 bounty paid is accounted for by the number of claims refused. 



2. These figures do not include the number of bears killed by sportsmen, 

 on which bounty was not applicable. 



The following is an excerpt from the Annual Report for the year ending 

 March 31, 1958, in which the greatest number of bears were bountied: 



"The bear kill this year represents a 282% increase over the previous year. 

 While we are unable to explain this remarkable increase, any more than the 

 marked decrease which occurred during the 1955/56 fiscal year, due to the fact 

 that no scientific study on bears has been made in Ontario, or any other compar- 

 able area, it is obvious that the bounty systems, together with the sportsman- 

 hunter, failed to take the surplus bear crop in the preceding two years. 



"It is hoped that, in the future, a scientific study of the bear population, which 

 would reveal many of the facts concerning this population that are unknown today, 

 may be made. The fact that an inexpUcable increase of 1,000% occurred in one 



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