News

Man Who Inhumanely Spears Bear To Death And Boasts About It On Video Causes Worldwide Fury

By
Andrea A.

A shocking video has gone viral over the past few days, causing outrage among animal lovers all over the world.

The video shows Josh Bowmar, a young 26-year-old hunter from Ohio in the US, ruthlessly slaughtering a black bear with a homemade spear in a forest in Alberta, Canada.

(Warning: graphic content below)

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGV7bXNvRSE[/embed]

"I drilled him perfect"

In the original 13-minute video which has since been removed from YouTube, you can hear the young man celebrating:

I drilled him perfect. That was the longest throw I ever thought I could ever make. I smoked him.

chasse-ours-lance-cruaute-canada-3

Source : @Channel 007

The hunter had previously left bait for the bear and awaited his target from behind the trees. When the bear was no more than ten metres away, he launched his huge weapon at the animal, catching him in his side.

The poor bear bolted straight away, but had already been fatally injured.

chasse-ours-lance-cruaute-canada-7

Source : @Channel 007

The hunter would come back looking for his pathetic "trophy" the next day to find the bear lying motionless about fifty metres away from the bait. There's no doubt he died a slow and painful death.

These truly heartbreaking images recall the scandal of Cecil the lion's death at the hands of American dentist Walter Palmer in July 2015 which caused just as much outrage over the world.

chasse-ours-lance-cruaute-canada-4

Source : @Channel 007

Josh Bowmar explained himself to Reuters in an attempt to justify his actions and respond to his critics, claiming it was an ethical killing:

[N]o one cares more about these animals than us hunters. 

you bait animals, spear them & upload it on the internet? absolutely disgusting. you are not welcome in Canada. #joshbowmar #animalcruelty — snowka (@sophieschmiddtt) August 17, 2016

But the deed is done and his "defence" is hardly convincing. Outrage has turned to fury on social media and the hunter has been receiving death threats ever since.

Hunting with spears soon to be banned in Alberta

Though hunting with spears is legalin the Canadian province of Alberta, where there are about 40,000 black bears, the local authorities have said they are launching an investigation to determine whether or not Josh Bowmar will be prosecuted for his actions.But on Tuesday August 16, they announced the only positive result to come out of this: they will introduce a ban on the "archaic and unacceptable" practice of spear hunting this fall.

chasse-ours-lance-cruaute-canada-1

Source : @Channel 007

In this protected region in the centre of Canada, hunting is a very lucrative business, bringing in significant revenues ($18 million in hunting permits for the 2015-2016 season, for example).

And "traditional" hunting methods are not at all unusual. Last year, 19% of 119,000 officially declared hunters got an archery permit.

You can sign this petition calling for a ban on inhumane spear hunting once and for all.