The male was feeding on the cubs when the sow returned and saw what was happening. Across North America, anti-hunting lobbies are challenging spring black bear hunts on the grounds that cubs will be orphaned and die when sows are accidentally shot. This kind of thinking, based not on biology but on emotion and Bambi-esque anthropomorphizing, ignores the fact that predation by male bears has a greater impact on cubs than hunting. Colorado banned spring black bear hunting in 1992 after a voter initiative. Infanticide among black bears has been documented in many states and provinces in which researchers have found the remains of cub hair and claws in the scat of adult males.
Cubs are an easy source of protein in spring and early summer.
In areas that are not hunted and therefore have significant numbers of older, larger bears, fewer younger bears are found, according to Jeff Rohlman, a Montana wildlife manager. A Montana study, titled Black Bear Environmental Impact Study 1994, contains findings that say the natural mortality of black bear cubs can vary from 12 percent to 48 percent annually in a given area. State wildlife biologists do not have the money and manpower to determine exact predation rates. But enough evidence exists to show that if orphaned cubs are the essential issue in bans on spring bear hunts, then cannibalistic bears must also be banned. In terms of the number of orphaned cubs, it would seem that spring hunts are no less detrimental than fall hunts, which go on in 28 states and nine Canadian provinces.