The poor wretches who still remain on St. Johns ... are also very alert in the chase Game animals. 0 f Bears, Wild Cats, Martins and Otters, which are the only beasts upon the Island;
"Frank Dingwell, formerly of Charlottetown, has been fortunate in catching a baby bear, but nearly came to grief. The mother bear chased him home and stayed near the community for several days in the hope of recovering her babe"[1].
The last Black Bear killed in Prince Edward Island was on Feb 8th, 1927 near the Souris Line Road. (http://macphailwoods.org/nature-guides/mammals/extinct-to-pei/)
"The abundance of black bears in the early days of European settlement was described as unbelievable, and their impacts on free roaming livestock considerable. So in the 1790’s a price of 15 shillings was placed on each of their heads, followed by the less offensive Canadian lynx in the 1820’s, meriting five shillings each. Between 1820-61 bounties were collected on over a thousand bears and an estimated 357 lynx, the few survivors thought to have taken refuge in the Island’s wooded tips, both east and west.
By 1890 the lynx was unheard of, dependent on forest cover that by then was less than 30 per cent of the province. The bear, however, is an adaptive omnivore, its diet diverse and its habitat needs flexible. The last individual wasn’t shot until 1927." (http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/local/huge-wolves-caribou-and-bears-once-roamed-peis-old-growth-forests-105180/)
References[]
- ↑ The Guardian. Page 6. 30 July 1912.