Opening of the trophy hunting season for B.C. grizzlies is only a month away.
Despite recent surveys indicating 90 per cent of B.C. residents oppose this so-called sport, the B.C. Liberals not only continue to sanction the hunt but in fact have extended it. Dates of the hunt are now from April 1 to June 15 and Aug. 15 to Nov. 30.
In the spring hunt, female bears are often shot due to mistaken identity leaving cubs to perish of starvation and in the fall, females are possibly pregnant when hunted.
Government sources reveal approximately 30 per cent of the 300-400 grizzlies killed annually are female.
With the current population of grizzlies estimated to be somewhere between 6,000-10,000 by independent sources and given that grizzlies have the second slowest reproduction rates of North American land mammals, it seems improbable that the population will continue to be sustainable.
Our government continues to treat the iconic but vulnerable grizzlies as an expendable resource which seriously threatens the growing and sustainable wildlife-based tourism industry.
Eco-tourism and bear viewing attract thousands of tourists to B.C. every year as B.C. remains one of the last refuges of grizzly bears in the world. In fact, figures show bear viewing generates 12 times the income that trophy hunting does.
It is significant to note that many B.C. provincial parks allow grizzly hunting, nine of 57 grizzly population units in B.C. are listed as threatened, and they have been extirpated in 18 per cent of their range due to fragmentation of habitat, train and auto accidents, and residential development.
Now is the time to ascertain how your local political candidates and their party stand on the question of trophy hunting.
Art Johnson
Kamloops
