Bears Killed for Fur – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

A PETA investigation undertaken in Ontario, Canada, filmed hunters luring bears to a drum baited with cookies, bagels, and greasy foods before shooting and disemboweling them. Hunters later skin the bears and may sell their fur—the very fur used to make the King’s Guard’s caps that PETA has demanded be replaced with faux fur.
Baiting bears is banned in parts of North America and condemned by conservation groups as cruel and “unsportsmanlike,” but PETA’s disturbing investigation shows hunters luring bears with bukets of sweet or greasy food before shooting the unsuspecting animals with crossbows or high-powered rifles.
As the investigator witnessed, bears who are shot don’t always die outright. They may flee and endure a slow and extremely painful death from infection or blood loss. Sometimes, hunters only find them hours later, if they even bother to follow the bloody trail. During spring hunts, nursing mothers may be among those killed, leaving behind cubs who are unable to survive without them and starve.
Once hunters have slaughtered the bears, they may keep parts of their bodies, such as the head or claws, as trophies they imagine are “macho” and sell or auction off the fur. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) capmakers buy the fur of slaughtered black bears and use it to make the headgear worn by the King’s Guard.
PETA U.K. has provided Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps with the footage and called on the MoD to stop supporting this barbaric industry, which is entirely at odds with public opinion in the U.K., as 95% of British people say they reject the use of animal fur. PETA U.K. and faux furrier ECOPEL have developed a faux fur that meets each of the MoD’s criteria for a replacement for the caps, yet the ministry has dug in its heels and apparently will require a public uproar before it will make the switch.
It takes the skin of at least one bear—each one an individual with thoughts, feelings, and the desire to live—to make a single cap. According to public records obtained by PETA U.K., the MoD bought 498 bearskin hats between 2017 and 2022.
And while the Canadian Department of National Defence claims that all the hats worn by its Ceremonial Guard are made from fur that’s over 20 years old, wearing any fur sends the same unacceptable message as wearing newly obtained fur—that it’s OK to lure animals and kill them for the sake of an ornament.
The MoD has frequently and entirely disingenuously claimed that the bear pelts used by the King’s Guard are a byproduct of a “cull” overseen by Canadian authorities. Yet federal and provincial Canadian governments have confirmed that no such cull exists. The Canadian government issues “tags” to hunting enthusiasts—such as those seen in the footage—who are then free to bait and kill an allotted number of bears and sell their skin. It’s a blood sport effectively subsidized by the MoD.
PETA U.K. and luxury faux furrier ECOPEL have created the world’s first faux bear fur that’s virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, and laboratory tests confirm that ECOPEL’s faux bear fur performs as well as or better than real bear fur according to the MoD’s five criteria for a replacement fabric.
In July 2024, the Canadian Armed Forces—which also uses bearskin caps—confirmed to PETA that it has no plans to obtain new caps in the near future and that when a need arises, it’s open to testing ECOPEL’s faux-fur bearskin alternative.
Instead of buying caps obtained from the shameful slaughter of black bears, the U.K. should set a compassionate example by switching to high-tech, luxurious faux fur. Please urge the U.S. ambassador to the U.K., Warren A. Stephens, to use his influence to help replace bearskin with faux fur for the King’s Guard’s caps.
PETA is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation.
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