A recent case of black bear gall bladder possession in northern Ontario prompted Mike Commito to investigate the transnational connections associated with bear hunting. Frequently black bears are harvested in one area but before or after processing their parts are destined for farther away locations, sometimes as part of an illegal black market trade. Through the course of his research on bear management in Ontario and New York State, Mike briefly takes us through a notable case of international black bear translocation that took place between Timmins, Ontario and the United Kingdom in 1959. The mayor of the gold mining town, Leo Del Villano, offered to organize a spring bear hunt in order to help refurbish the bearskin caps worn by the Queen’s Guards at Buckingham Palace. Consequently, sixty-two of northern Ontario’s black bears became unwitting actors in a broader campaign of maintaining the empire and civic boosterism. It was the last systematically organized spring bear hunt in Ontario and its worldwide publicity alerted many Ontarians to a form of hunting that would be highly contentious for another forty years until it was indefinitely repealed by the Conservative government.

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Sean Kheraj

Associate Professor at York University, Department of History

Sean Kheraj is the director of the Network in Canadian History and Environment. He's an associate professor in the Department of History and associate dean of programs at York University. His research and teaching focuses on environmental and Canadian history. He is also the host and producer of Nature's Past, NiCHE's audio podcast series and he blogs at http://seankheraj.com.

Latest posts by Sean Kheraj (see all)

• Nature’s Past Episode 66: Communicating Toxic Legacies - October 16, 2019
• Nature’s Past Episode 65: 3rd World Congress of Environmental History - August 15, 2019
• How to Build the World’s Largest Oil Pipeline System - July 18, 2019
• Nature’s Past Episode 64: Environment and Alibi - May 22, 2019
• From Field Trip to Walking Tour: Animals in the City - April 30, 2019
• What Role Should History Play in Canadian Oil Pipeline Politics? - April 16, 2019
• Building Environmental History Networks Around the World - April 12, 2019
• I’m Not Going to Ohio: How I Will Participate in ASEH 2019 - April 11, 2019
• More: Energy History and Energy Futures - April 10, 2019
• Nature’s Past Episode 63: Unbuilt Environments - March 25, 2019