Should we care that grizzly bears are hunted in British Columbia? The Natural Resources Defense Council and the David Suzuki Foundation think so, saying those hunts could end up harming grizzly populations on this side of the US-Canadian border.

The annual grizzly hunt in British Columbia got under way April 1. A problem with those yearly hunts, though, is that the quotas are routinely exceeded, according to a report from the two groups.

Using government figures, the report compares the actual number of bears killed by humans to the allowable human-caused mortality limits set by the government between 2004 and 2008. In many parts of the province, including the transboundary Flathead region, allowable kill limits were exceeded year after year. Trophy hunting, which accounts for 88 per cent of all human-case grizzly deaths in B.C., was largely to blame. Excessive human-caused bear mortality along the US/Canada border poses a risk to the future of the threatened grizzly in the lower 48 states, which rely on bear populations in Canada for survival.

“Held up against the government’s own estimates of what is sustainable, the number of grizzlies being killed in British Columbia’s regions is excessive,” said Dr. Faisal Moola, director of science and terrestrial conservation at the David Suzuki Foundation, a Canadian organization. “What’s even more concerning is that our research shows this over killing is happening year after year in many parts of B.C., and nothing is being done to stop it.”

The two groups, along with being outraged by the take in those hunts, are worried about the impacts on U.S. grizzly populations, as some of the hunting areas fall along the B.C.- Alberta border near the Flathead River area of Montana, one of the last areas of significant grizzly bear populations in the United States

"Some of these grizzly populations lie right along our border with Canada. Of particular concern is the Flathead, where between 2004 and 2008, the period for which the most reliable population data is available, the allowable human-caused mortality rate was exceeded in four of the five years (once by 130 percent)," writes Louisa Willcox, referring to the area of British Columbia just north of Glacier National Park. "The annual grizzly bear hunt in the Flathead is not sustainable, and British Columbia’s hunting policies could harm the health of the federally protected Flathead grizzlies on our side of the border.

"The Flathead has been called 'one of the grizzliest places in the lower-48 states,' because it boasts the highest densities of any grizzly population remaining here," adds Ms. Willcox, a senior wildlife advocate for NRDC in Montana. "And, because of the incredible ecological diversity in the Flathead—with the highest diversity of carnivores of any area in North America—U.S. and Canada have recently agreed to ban mining to protect this unique landscape and the grizzlies that call it home. But, today, the same government that made a commitment to protecting habitat in the Flathead is undermining its own efforts by allowing grizzly bear hunting there."

What's the solution? Pressure on British Columbia officials. The David Suzuki Foundation and the NRDC are calling on the B.C. government "to close existing loopholes in the Wildlife Act that allows for grizzlies to be shot by trophy hunters in B.C.’s parks, and to establish large no-kill zones where hunting is prohibited and bears can live unthreatened."

“Canadians can learn a lot from the history of bear management in Yellowstone and Glacier national parks. The ban on hunting in the parks has been essential to maintaining grizzlies in these last strongholds for grizzlies in the lower 48 states,” Ms. Willcox said.

If you'd like to send the premier your thoughts, here's his contact information:

Premier of British Columbia

Hon. Gordon Campbell

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: (250) 387-1715