The Coastal First Nations have stated – and shown through studies – that the grizzlies are worth more alive than dead. That is, more individuals are willing to pay more money overtime to simply see or photography the bears than they are to kill them and take trophies.
In 2004, the European Union banned the importation of the trophies taken as part of the hunt, stating it was environmentally unsound – and that ban remains in place today.
The misdirection of the government on this issue isn’t new, either. According to Macleans magazine, “In 2000, [the government] suppressed the work of one of its own biologists, Dionys de Leeuw, for suggesting the hunt was excessive and could be pushing the bears to extinction. De Leeuw was later suspended without pay for having pursued the line of inquiry. Soon after, the government fought a five-year legal battle to try to avoid releasing its grizzly kill data.”
A student in BC contacted The Fur-Bearers and provided an essay in which she explored the profiteering of wildlife management – particularly the grizzly bears of the West coast.
British Columbia-based group Raincoast Conservation, the David Suzuki Foundation and others have all written about this travesty of science and morality. The majority of the public opposes the hunt – 87 per cent indicated in one poll, and at least 90 per cent in letter writing to the government.
We need you to speak. The bears need you to speak.
Please write to (or tweet at) Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Steve Thomson and Premier Christy Clarke and tell them you oppose the hunt. Tell them that it goes against the best science and morality of our country and province. Tell them that you will remember all of this come election time. And they will, too.
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MLA Steve Thomson Suite 102 – 2121 Ethel St. Kelowna, BC V1Y 2Z6 Phone: (250) 712-3620 Fax: (250) 712-3626
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Premier Christy Clark Parliament Buildings Victoria, BC V8V 1X4 Phone: (250) 387-1715 Fax: (250) 768-8436
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Photo provided by Kerri Martin Photography
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