Andy Summa is a freelance writer in Sugar Land, Texas. National parks exist primarily to protect the ecological integrity and biological diversity of unique natural regions in Canada, he said. They are among the few places where nature comes first, or ought to. The ever-accelerating pace of development of our landscapes, through agriculture, forestry, mining, and residential buildup, means that our national parks, and Riding Mountain in particular, are becoming increasingly isolated and stressed. Hunting along the park s boundaries is particularly dangerous to the ecological well-being of the park and surrounding areas, Turenne said.
Many outfitters advertise park frontage.
In fact, their policies accomplish the reverse by luring animals from the center of the park to the surrounding countryside and onto private land. Turenne said the bears are baited to the park boundaries by stale doughnuts and food placed there by outfitters. Baiting also plays havoc with bear ecology, he said. Because of the shape of the park, and the fact that bears travel widely, nearly all of the park s bears are negatively affected by the practice. Their migratory patterns, feeding habits, age structure, sex ratio, and social relationships are all distorted.