A coalition made up of national and international groups have pooled resources to fight the upcoming Grizzly bear hunt in B.C.'s great bear rainforest.
Vancouver, B.C. - Wild Pacific announced Monday that a series of newspaper ads against British Columbia's Grizzly trophy hunt launched Monday in a campaign to protect the Kermode Spirit Bear. Wild Pacific said
"The ads are endorsed by tourism businesses, local and international conservation groups and coastal First Nations representing 20 million people from over 40 countries."
The hunt gets underway April 1st and concludes May 1 for many locations, mainly along coastal British Columbia, with many other locations throughout the province allowed to hunt until mid-June. The coalition is led by British Columbia wild animal conservation organization, Pacific Wild. Spokesperson Ian McAllister said it was important for the public to protect grizzly bears.
"Unless the BC government acts quickly grizzly bears are about to be killed in our parks and conservancy areas in the internationally celebrated Great Bear Rainforest. In the spectacular Kwatna river, just a few miles from where I live, four grizzlies were killed for trophy in 2009 - and two of them were females - what kind of sport involves killing female grizzly bears?"Pacific Wild pointed to a poll conducted in 2009 by Ipso Reid that found 80% of British Columbia residents opposed hunting grizzly bears. Likewise, First Nations groups do not want the hunt taking place on their lands. The 24 groups that make up the coalition say that over 2,000 grizzly bears have been killed in trophy hunts since Premier Gordon Campbell lifted the moratorium on the hunt in 2001. This year the government is making nearly 1,500 permits available for grizzly hunts in various parts of the province. British Columbia's Environment Minister has said the Grizzly population in British Columbia is around 16,000 bears. The government supports the hunt because it generates over $100 million a year for the B.C. economy. Because hunting will be allowed on lands that comprise the majority of the bears' range, and the Spirit Bear is a genetic variation of the Black Kermode bear, which is allowed to be killed during the hunt; Wild Pacific is concerned that the Kermode Spirit Bear is at risk. Spirit Bears are not allowed to be killed. The hunt also endangers bear-watching, part of the popular wild-life viewing trend that has increased since the late 1990s. Wild Pacific urges British Columbians to "Tell BC Premier Gordon Campbell to do the right thing and stop this unethical sport hunt. Send a message now, before it's too late."
Grizzlies are listed as an endangered species in the United States. Canada's Prairie population of Grizzlies has been "extirpated," and the species is listed as being of "special concern" for British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
