State study singles out black bears

I have some questions and comments after reading the Agu. 6 article in the Daily Inter Lake regarding the state black bear study.

According to the article, the last mean population estimates were done in 2011 by Richard Mace and Tonga Chilton-Radant. The estimated population of black bears was 13,307. The number of black bears killed by hunters in 2022 totalled 2,159, in 2021 the total as 1,598, and in 2020 the total was 1,457. Total black bears killed over three years was 5,214. If you figure the percent of the total estimated population of 13,307 bears and that 5,214 of those bears were killed over three years, thats 39% of the population exterminated by hunting alone. 

Colby Anton a black bear monitoring biologist with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks says he’s excited to set quotas to get a “Balance between predators and prey.”A quote by Pat Tabor, vice chair of State Fish and Wildlife Commission says the decreased counts of ungulates is assumed to be caused by predators. Not any single predator can be confirmed.