Regulators approve killing twice as many bears as originally allowed in Nevada hunt

The Nevada Wildlife Commission voted Saturday to allow hunters to kill 42 bears a year, more than twice the number permitted to be slaughtered in the first decade of the hunt, which began in 2011. 

The move is the latest in a series of decisions that have prompted criticism of the commission for failing to represent the interests of a plurality of Nevadans, who prefer to coexist peacefully with animals, according to studies, including the Nevada Department of Wildlife’s own survey.  

Advocates for allowing more bears to be killed note the population has not declined since the inception of the hunt. But critics complain no one knows how many bears are in Nevada. 

NDOW estimates the black bear population in Nevada at between 239 and 740 with 95% confidence, and growing at a rate of 5% annually. 

“That’s a real wide gap of confidence when we’re trying to estimate the population,” said Commissioner David McNinch, the lone member of the board charged with representing conservationists, who took issue with NDOW using 700 bears, the high end of the range, in its calculation for increasing the quota. “Not sure why we wouldn’t equally land on 240.”  

“A 95% confidence level that varies by several hundred animals means you have no confidence level at all,” Dr. Donald Molde of the Nevada Wildlife Alliance said via email. ”Pick a number.”

Molde says estimating populations of any species is not easy. “That means to me they must be conservative in their choice of numbers.” Read More…