Data reveal more than 300 B.C. grizzlies killed by hunters yearly
Nearly 14,000 grizzly bears have been killed in B.C. since the government started tracking mortality records for the species in 1975, the vast majority by hunters, according to provincial data compiled by the David Suzuki Foundation.
Of those bears – an estimated 329 each year – 87 per cent have been killed by licensed hunters, with other kills attributed to causes including the shooting of problem bears by conservation officers, illegal poaching and collisions with cars and trains.
A total of 13,804 grizzly bears have been killed by humans from 1975 to 2016, the group says.
The Suzuki foundation provided the data to The Globe and Mail ahead of the opening on Saturday of the province’s controversial trophy grizzly-bear hunt. The governing Liberal party has defended the hunt and resisted calls to shut it down. With the Opposition NDP opposed to the hunt, the issue will likely arise during the spring election campaign.
The figures, compiled from the B.C. Compulsory Inspection Database, show a relatively consistent number of grizzly bears killed each year over the past four decades, with the exception of a dip in 2001, when there was a moratorium on the grizzly-bear hunt.
(The database consists of information submitted by hunters through required inspections for certain species, including grizzly bears.)
The figures also indicate that, on average, 34 per cent of grizzly bears killed each year are female – a percentage that worries some conservationists and is one element in a public debate over whether the hunt should be banned.
“Despite being a large, dominant animal, grizzlies are among the most threatened large species on the continent,” Faisal Moola, director-general of the Suzuki foundation, said on Friday.
Because female grizzly bears reproduce later in life and have a small number of cubs that survive, the species is vulnerable to decline if too many female bears are taken out of the population, he said.
“The ability of a population to rebound, or bounce back, from a period of hunting, is wholly dependent on the success of those female bears to continue to reproduce and replenish the population,” Dr. Moola said.
The province estimates the grizzly population in B.C. at 15,000 – about one-quarter of the population in North America. Of 56 bear “population units” in B.C. – geographic areas based on habitat and natural boundaries – nine are classified as threatened.
But conservation groups say that figure overestimates the health of the grizzly population.
The Liberal government maintains that the grizzly-bear hunt is sustainable, based on sound science, and tightly regulated.
If hunters take more than 30 per cent of female bears, “hunting opportunities are reduced or that unit is closed to hunting,” the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations said on Friday in a statement.
There is significant opposition to the hunt, including from First Nations that see greater economic opportunity in bear-viewing.
There is also debate over whether sanctioned hunts could put further pressure on population units deemed to be threatened.
The province refused to provide spatial data on individual grizzly kills unless the Suzuki foundation agreed to sign a confidentiality agreement, which it declined to do, Dr. Moola said.
Without that information, the group was unable to determine whether grizzly bears are being killed in parks or protected areas or in local populations where over-hunting has occurred in the past, he said in an e-mail.
Kill locations of grizzly bears are “considered sensitive information and not released publicly,” the ministry said. “The province fully supports ensuring the long-term sustainability of Grizzly bear populations, and the protection of seasonally-critical habitats is a significant part of conservation efforts,” the ministry added.
Grizzly-bear hunting is not allowed in areas where conservation is a concern. Last September, the B.C. Auditor-General’s office included grizzly-bear management in its list of planned projects to determine “whether government is meeting its objective of ensuring healthy grizzly bear populations throughout B.C.”
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Grizzly bears overhunted in B.C., say researchers
Kill rates are too high and population estimates too vague, according to SFU and Uvic scientists
CBC News Posted: Nov 06, 2013
A new study is questioning the B.C. government's claim the province's trophy grizzly bear hunt is sustainable, saying the kill rates are too high and the population estimates are too inaccurate.
The research by SFU and University of Victoria scientists, published today in Public Library of Science, a peer-reviewed journal, says about 300 grizzly bears are killed by trophy hunters every year in B.C.
The B.C. government claims that's a sustainable harvest, since it estimates there are about 15,000 grizzlies in B.C.
But researchers say their analysis of 10 years of the government's data from 2001 to 2011 raises serious questions about that conclusion.
SFU biologist Kyle Artelle says in half the population groups around the province where hunting is permitted, more grizzlies have been killed than even government targets allow.
In at least one regional population, hunters killed 24 more bears than the local quota allowed.
"It does cast some doubt that management is safeguarding the future of these populations," said Artelle.
Population estimates questioned
The study also raises larger concerns about the accuracy of the government's population estimates.
Artelle says that even wildlife managers don't know how many bears are out there because on-the-ground surveys have only been done for about 15 percent of the province, meaning most population estimates come from computer models or expert opinion.
And, he says, because of the wide range of potential errors in those estimates, the hunting quotes may be too lax.
"In a way it's a bit like a game of Russian roulette. The data just don't let us have a precise picture on how big that threat is. But it is a considerable risk based on that uncertainty."
But Andrew Wilson, director of Fish and Wildlife at the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources, is confident in how grizzly bears are managed and said the government's own analysis supports the current hunt.
"The information that I have and the information that we use to manage, we feel is the best available science and it's based on the information we have at hand," said Wilson.
"I'm confident in our abilities to manage grizzly bears and to manage the hunt based on those numbers."
The researchers say the government should learn from the mistakes made by fisheries managers that allowed overfishing to lead to the collapse of many fish stocks.
“Grizzly bears’ low rate of reproduction makes them highly vulnerable and slow to recover from population declines," said Artelle.
The B.C. government could reduce the risk to the province's grizzly bear population by cutting its hunting quotas by at least half, he says. The paper notes a more conservative approach would require reducing hunting by 80 percent, or eliminating it all together.
According to the researchers, trophy hunting of grizzlies is allowed in about 40 of the 57 population units in B.C., including B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest, where the alliance of Coastal First Nations has banned the activity. The provincial government doesn’t recognize the First Nations' ban.
The grizzly bear hunt is managed by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources. A spokesperson said the ministry will review the report.
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