Bears at Risk

September 16, 2009

	Hungry. © istock/oksanaphoto

The plight of bears in the Great Bear Rainforest has once again made headlines. Canadian and international media are reporting on the extremely low chum salmon returns on BC’s northern coast, and the potentially catastrophic impact on local wildlife, including grizzly and black bears. Reports continue to surface up and down the BC coast about the lower numbers of bears returning to salmon rivers, including cubs of the year.

As one of their primary food sources declines, the bears are facing another threat to their survival—trophy hunters who gun down the vulnerable animals as they forage for food. Even grizzly bears—which are a ranked species at risk in Canada by COSEWIC, are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and reproduce only every three to four years—are routinely killed for sport in the Great Bear Rainforest, including in parks and protected areas. The Ministry of Environment has tracked the mortality of grizzly bears in the province from 1975 to the present; of the over 11,000 grizzlies known to have been killed during this period, more than 87 percent were killed by trophy hunters.

Black bears are also at risk. The BC coast has one of greatest diversity of black bears subspecies in North America, ranging from the spirit bear (kermodei subspecies) to the Haida black bear. While hunting of white kermodes is already banned, the gene pool is nevertheless affected by killing black bears who carry the recessive gene for the white phase. Trophy hunting of bears also impacts the gene pool by the constant selection of the largest, most robust individuals.

Conservation groups are asking the provincial government to take immediate action to protect these animals by ending the senseless trophy hunt for bears in the Great Bear Rainforest. Such a move would receive broad support. Coastal First Nations oppose the hunt for spiritual reasons, and a 2009 poll shows 79 percent of BC residents want the trophy hunting of bears ended in the Great Bear Rainforest.

In the lead-up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the eyes of the world are on BC—just one more reason for the provincial government to take action. For the animals, for the environment, and for BC, it is time to end the trophy hunt for bears in the Great Bear Rainforest.