Recovering Alberta's threatened grizzly bear

Alberta's grizzly bear population is one of the most threatened in North America. Numbers have dropped from an estimated historic high of 9,000 to 16,000 bears just 200 years ago to an estimated 500 bears today (ASRD, 2002). The primary causes of this decrease include increasing rates of human-caused mortality, habitat fragmentation, and increasing amounts of human activity (recreation, forestry, oil & gas exploration, development) in grizzly bear habitat.

After reviewing the status of Alberta's grizzly bear population against the internationally accepted guidelines of the IUCN, Alberta's Endangered Species Conservation Committee (ESCC) recommended that the provincial government upgrade Alberta's ailing grizzly bear population from a big game species that "may be at risk" to a species that is "threatened" with extirpation and in need of protection.

This status upgrade is very important to the long-term persistence of the grizzly bear in Alberta. It would require the provincial government to develop a recovery plan for the Alberta grizzly bear, and to provide the legislative tools and financial resources that would ensure the recovery of this magnificent species.

The scientific evidence clearly supports this status upgrade, but to date Mike Cardinal, Alberta's Minister for Sustainable Resource Development, has not formally adopted the Endangered Species Conservation Committee's recommendation and list the Alberta grizzly bear as a threatened species - despite the fact both the conservation community and the oil & gas industry support the status upgrade.

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