A Grisly Sport With A Deadly Consequence by Christopher Genovali Victoria Times Colonist Page A14

In the Raincoast Conservation Society's field work and reconnaissance in the remote river valleys of the Great Bear Rainforest we are finding a disturbing absence of grizzly bears, even along salmon producing systems during the fall runs when predation activity should be high. Another troubling sign is that black bears are proliferating in areas that are historically grizzly bear strongholds, something which grizzlies (if present) would never tolerate. Independent wildlife biologists are in consensus that hunting overkill is seriously impacting coastal grizzly bear populations on the central and north coast. Raincoast fears a coast-wide collapse of grizzly populations is under way.

In an exhaustive review of the British Columbia government's flawed approach to grizzly management, wildlife biologists Dr. Brian Horejsi, Dr. Barrie Gilbert and Dr. Lance Craighead recently stated that "there is evidence to suggest that grizzly bear density estimates for coastal BC represent populations suffering from substantial decline."

Dr. Gilbert has pointed out that the relatively small size and young age now prevalent among coastal grizzly populations is a sure indicator of hunting overkill, and given the lack of credible population studies and biological information generated by government, there is no scientific management of coastal grizzlies in BC. Dr. Horejsi has stated that there should be 3 to 5 times the number of grizzlies on BC's coast and that this dramatic decline is due to hunting overkill and the continued destruction of grizzly habitat by clearcut logging and industrial forestry.

The "sport" hunting of coastal grizzly bears often resembles some sort of high tech war effort. Drs. Horejsi, Gilbert and Craighead report that "outifitters and resident hunters charter float planes, fly along the coast, land at road staging areas, and drive roads or take jet boats up salmon spawning rivers; some use permanent, illegal, elevated stands overlooking salmon spawning sitesOThis type of hunting has been characterized, reflecting its dependence on technology, as a search and destroy mission, referring to the speed and efficiency with which a hunting party can arrive at a stand, shoot grizzly bears where they are known to aggregate and leave the area."

Grizzly bears have the lowest reproductive rate of any land mammal on the North American continent. One reason for this is the late sexual maturation of female grizzlies, as they do not start breeding until 5 to 8 years of age. If optimum conditions exist breeding females will produce only one to three cubs at 2 to 3 year intervals. In addition, there is a relatively long two to three year attachment of young grizzlies to their mothers. Grizzly bear populations are especially susceptible to the impacts of sport hunting because of these reproductive limitations. Grizzlies do not have the biological characteristics of a prey species; they reproduce slowly and their populations recover slowly from human induced mortality.

The Kitlope Valley, located in Haisla territory on the north coast, is a prime example of the toll being taken on coastal grizzlies by hunting overkill. A vast intact drainage, the Kitlope's grizzly bear population was decimated by years of excessive sport hunting. As a result of the Haisla First Nation's efforts to stop the unrestrained killing of grizzlies in the Kitlope, the province finally implemented a ban on grizzly bear hunting in the valley. However, a prolonged grizzly population depression is still evident in the Kitlope.

When Cathy McGregor was deposed as environment minister and replaced with Joan Sawicki, Raincoast hoped it was a sign that the government might take a more enlightened approach to grizzly bear management. But by all indications, the utter neglect for the coastal grizzly bear issue that earmarked McGregor's reign is going to be continued under Sawicki. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss; hunting overkill and habitat destruction in the Great Bear Rainforest continues unabated.

In BC, grizzly bear management emanates from the barrel of a gun, as evidenced by the recent killing of numerous grizzlies in Rivers Inlet by provincial conservation officers. Government negligence in failing to protect grizzly bear habitat and wild salmon stocks has now become a human safety issue as grizzlies desperately search for food in coastal communities such as Oweekeno Village.

Minister Sawicki refuses to meet with conservation groups to discuss the coastal grizzly bear issue. Sawicki's excuse? Her calendar is "fully committed" in the coming months. The decline of coastal grizzly populations apparently is not a concern to the new minister. This derelict attitude prevails despite the fact that one of her own biologists, Dionys DeLeeuw, has plainly exposed the pseudo-scientific rationale behind the government's grizzly hunting policy. DeLeeuw says that "there is no evidence suggesting any sport hunting of grizzlies is sustainable in BC. In fact, there are strong indications that past and continuing population declines are due to excessive sport hunting.

" In a strongly worded petition recently submitted to the BC government, 68 biologists are calling for the enactment of a 5 to 10 year moratorium on all sport hunting of grizzly bears pending completion of long-term population studies in the province's six bioregions. Yet the BC government clings to the voodoo science of its pro-sport hunting Wildlife Branch in order to cater to the extremist special interest groups that favour killing grizzlies for fun and profit.

One can only hope, for the sake of the province's coastal grizzly bears, that the new millennium will find the Wildlife Branch finally coming out of the Dark Ages.

(Christopher Genovali lives in Victoria and is on the staff of the
Raincoast Conservation Society) [www.raincoast.org]