(Monday, August 14, 2017) – With less than 24 hours before the fall bear hunt opens in parts of British Columbia, the NDP government has announced a ban on the grizzly bear trophy hunt province-wide and to stop all hunting of grizzlies in the Great Bear Rainforest, effective Nov. 30, 2017.
“Today’s announcement by the NDP with the support of the BC Green Party is long overdue and Pacific Wild congratulates Premier Horgan for taking this interim step towards the protection of one of our most iconic and magnificent land mammals,” said Pacific Wild’s Executive Director Ian McAllister. “However, the fact that this season’s fall trophy hunt will still go forward allowing hundreds of grizzly bears to die an unnecessary death makes this announcement hard to celebrate.”
The other contention is that the government is allowing for grizzly bears to be killed for trophy as long as meat is taken from the carcass.
“Clearly the government choked and once again capitulated to the trophy hunters by ensuring that grizzly bears can still be killed, only now they take some of the meat with them in addition to the trophy hide,” stated McAllister.
“There is simply no scientific, ethical or economic rationale to continue the trophy hunt and banning it will be celebrated around the world,” said Pacific Wild’s Krista Roessingh. “We urge the province to make the ban complete and not allow for the loophole of killing grizzly bears for meat instead of for a trophy – no one hunts grizzly bears for meat so this should be simply taken off the table.”
Since the BC Liberals overturned a moratorium on the trophy hunt, thousands of grizzly bears have died unnecessarily. Today’s decision brings our societal values, one that supports the protection of our natural heritage and places conservation first. This announcement takes us a step closer towards building an economy built on non-extractive, sustainable wildlife based viewing that will no longer be at odds with the trophy hunt.
Background: 90% of British Columbians are opposed to the killing of grizzly bears. Nearly 14,000 grizzly bears have been killed by humans from 1975 to 2016. Each year an average of 300 grizzlies are killed for trophies, some within B.C.’s renowned provincial parks and protected areas. Grizzlies are listed as a species of special concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, yet the province has allowed for a Limited Entry Hunt for trophy hunters twice a year. B.C.’s grizzly population has fallen from an estimated 35,000 bears in 1915 to possibly as low as six thousand today. The 2017 fall hunt has been extended from August 15 to November 30, 2017. Location specific dates in B.C. can be found here.
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Media contact:
Pacific Wild: Lindsay Marie Stewart, 403-827-0678 email: lindsay@pacificwild.org
For more information and how to help: pacificwild.org/take-action/campaigns/stop-the-trophy-hunt
