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Albertans continue to hunt threatened grizzly
Government
ignores scientific recommendations
and allows spring hunt to continue
Minister of Sustainable Resource Development
Mike Cardinal announced on Feb. 2, 2004 that the Alberta
grizzly bear hunt would continue, despite science-based
recommendations from three separate advisory committee
that asked him to suspend the hunt.
"It's just shocking that it's going
ahead despite all the scientific evidence that it shouldn't,"
said Tracey Henderson, director of the Canmore-based
Grizzly Bear Alliance. "It's time Premier Ralph
Klein stepped in and put an end to this foolishness.
The Alberta grizzly bear deserves to be listed as a
threatened species before the bears come out this spring."
After reviewing the status of Alberta's
grizzly bear population against the internationally
accepted guidelines of the IUCN, Alberta's Endangered
Species Conservation Committee (AESCC) 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 refused to
formally adopt 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.
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.
The end of an important grizzly era?
Recent grizzly bear deaths in Banff National
Park have conservation
groups demanding that Parks Canada implement a strong
grizzly bear conservation strategy
The death of two more grizzly bears in Banff National
Park last week may mark the end of a tragic era. Bear
#30, an 18-year-old female who has lived in the Lake
Louise area for most of her long life, has tried to
raise cubs in this human-dominated landscape for more
than a decade. But the human pressures that plague Banff
National Park have proven too much even for this stoic
matriarch.
One of her offspring, Bear #59, was found dead on June
5, the victim of a vehicle collision near Lake Louise.
On June 4, Parks officials found the remains of Bear
#84, the orphaned cub of Bear #56, Bear #59's sister.
Number 84 was likely the victim of predation by another
bear. Number 59 was the eighth Banff grizzly bear to
die as a result of human activity in the last 2 years,
shattering the 1 per cent human-caused mortality target
by more than 600 per cent.
"It's not even June yet and we've already surpassed
Banff National Park's annual target for human caused
grizzly bear mortality," says Tracy Henderson,
program director of the Grizzly Bear Alliance. "I
want to know what Park administrators are going to do
to ensure no more grizzlies are killed this year as
a result of human activity."
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The Grizzly Bear Alliance and other environmental groups,
including Wildcanada.net, have been calling on Banff
National Park to implement a comprehensive grizzly bear
conservation strategy for the park, asserting that measures
taken to date have not been enough to secure a future
for the park's grizzly bears.
The latest grizzly bear deaths mark the end of a family
line whose tragic history started back in 1994, when
bear #30 gave birth to three female cubs: Bears #56,
#59, and #60. Now, nine years later, these cubs and
all of their offspring - seven bears in total - are
dead.
Number 59, and hers sisters #56 and #60, were born in
1994, but didn't venture out on their own until the
summer of 1998, after spending four years with their
mother, #30. #60 was killed by a car on the Trans Canada
Highway in August 2000, before she could give birth
to her first litter of cubs. Early the next year, #56
gave birth to two cubs - a male and a female - but was
struck dead by a train just a few months later, leaving
her orphaned cubs to fend for themselves. The cubs -
#83 and #84 - managed to survive the winter on their
own, but soon after they came out of hibernation #83
was killed by a speeding motorist in the reduced speed
zone near Lake Louise. Number 84 was killed last week,
reportedly by another bear. Number 59, whose body was
found yesterday near Herbert Lake, gave birth to a cub
in early 2002, but the cub disappeared in July, before
it could even be given a number.
"The tragic story of this family of bears clearly
shows how difficult and challenging it is for grizzly
bears to survive in Banff National Park," says
Henderson. "It's also yet another example of why
we need a comprehensive grizzly bear strategy for Banff
National Park."
For the last two years, the overall human-caused grizzly
bear mortality rate in Banff has been 6.7 per cent -almost
seven times the acceptable rate as stated in the Banff
National Park Management Plan. Banff National Park's
annual target for human-caused grizzly bear deaths is
a maximum of 1 per cent of the estimated population,
or one bear every two years. Eight of Banff's grizzly
bears, five of the females, have been killed as a result
of human activity in the last 2 years. Five of those
bears (4 of them female) have died in the last 12 months.
"How many dead bears is it going to take before
Parks commits to ensuring a future for Banff's grizzlies?"
says Steph Legault, executive director of Wildcanada.net.
"They have publicly stated that for the population
to remain healthy, no more than one female bear should
die every five years, and yet the death of Bear #59
marks the fifth dead female in just over 2 years - this
is absolutely unacceptable."
Bear #30, the matriarch of this star-crossed lineage
of bears, currently has three two-year-old cubs with
her. At 18 years of age this is likely her last litter.
Legault and Henderson say that without a grizzly bear
conservation strategy in place, the fate of these three
cubs - and the genetic legacy of bear #30 - will likely
end tragically.
BVGBA's Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy
for Banff National Park
Banff National Park officials have committed to implementing
a grizzly bear conservation strategy for Banff National
Park. To ensure we get a conservation strategy that
works, BVGBA has developed its own version. Called The
Bear Necessities: A Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy
for Banff National Park, this report provides
recommendations for a conservation strategy we would
like Banff National Park officials to incorporate into
the Banff Management Plan during the 2003 review process.
To lend your support to the recommendations in this
document, visit our Grizzly
Bear Action Centre.
Scientists and park managers have been recommending
strategies for the conservation of grizzly bears in
Banff National Park for decades, but most of those recommendations
have been ignored. As a result, Banff's grizzly bear
population is teetering toward decline and, eventually,
extinction.
The 2001 Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project status
report states that mortality in the adult female cohort
is concentrated in Banff National Park (4 of 5 known
mortalities). Without the greater survivorship in Kananaskis
Country the intrinsic growth rate of the population
would probably be negative.
The Bear
Necessities provides an economically sound,
socially palatable, and scientifically defensible blueprint
to reduce grizzly bear mortality and improve habitat
security in Banff National Park and the larger Bow Valley
watershed.
Wanna
help? Click here.
Help protect Alberta's threatened
grizzly bear
Alberta's Endangered Species Conservation Committee
(ESCC) has recommended that the provincial government
upgrade Alberta's ailing grizzly bear population from
a species that "may be at risk" to a species that is
"threatened" with extirpation.
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 it is up to Mike Cardinal, Alberta's Minister
for Sustainable Resource Development, to make the final
decision. While the minister usually supports the recommendations
of the ESCC, a species as highly politicized as the
grizzly bear may get turned down - despite the overwhelming
scientific evidence supporting threatened status.
Wanna
help? Click here.
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Poll: Banff visitors embrace bears
Recently reported findings of a pilot survey in Banff
National Park indicate that an overwhelming majority
of respondents are willing to do whatever it takes to
ensure the park's grizzly bear population remains healthy.
The best available science suggests that the combination
of a low reproductive rate, a high mortality rate (especially
human-caused deaths), and the destruction of high-quality
grizzly bear habitat means the Banff-Bow Valley grizzly
bear population may disappear during the 21st century.
According to some of the top grizzly bear biologists
in North America, one of the most important ways to
reverse this trend is to manage human use, especially
in the Bow Valley section of Banff National Park, where
as many as five million people visit annually.
This survey indicates that an overwhelming majority
of the 154 park users sampled believe grizzly bears
are an essential part of not only the ecosystem, but
of their wilderness and visitor experiences. The survey
also suggests that these park users are willing to accept
higher costs and reduced accessibility to trails and
backcountry destinations if such actions will improve
the chances for survival of Banff's grizzly bear population.
This survey provides strong support for the immediate
implementation of an effective grizzly bear conservation
strategy in Banff National Park. This plan should be
based on recommendations made by grizzly bear biologists
who have studied grizzlies in the Central Rockies Ecosystem.
It should also be similar to those being implemented
in Yellowstone and Denali national parks, where grizzly
bears are thriving - in large part due to effective
grizzly bear management plans that involve managing
human-use in areas of high-quality grizzly habitat.
Key Findings:
The vast majority of people surveyed believe grizzly
bears are an essential part of their national park experience.
- More than 70 percent of respondents agreed that
just knowing grizzly bears exist in the mountain parks
makes their experience more meaningful and exciting,
and 75 per cent believe just knowing that grizzly
bears are present makes a wilderness experience "wonderful."
- More than 70 percent are keen to see a grizzly bear
in the wild and believe doing so would be "one of
the greatest outdoor experiences of my life."
- Only 15 per cent of the respondents would visit
a park without grizzly bears.
Almost everyone surveyed believes grizzly bears should
be preserved, both inside and outside the mountain national
parks.
- Almost every respondent (98 per cent) believes it
is important to protect the grizzly bear from extinction.
Not a single respondent believes this is not an important
objective.
- More than 85 per cent of respondents would "not
be happy" to see the grizzly bear disappear from Banff
National Park. Only 1.3 per cent would like to see
the grizzly bear eliminated from BNP.
The vast majority of people surveyed believe grizzly
bears are an important part of a healthy ecosystem.
- More than 95 per cent of respondents believe grizzly
bears are essential to the balance of nature, and
more than 85 per cent believe that a healthy grizzly
bear population is an indicator of a healthy ecosystem.
The vast majority of people surveyed believe human-caused
grizzly bears mortalities should be reduced.
- More than 80 per cent of respondents believe "we
should do whatever we can" to decrease the number
of grizzlies killed on highways and railway tracks
in the mountain parks.
The vast majority of people surveyed are willing to
spend more money to protect grizzly bears.
- More than 85 per cent of the respondents would support
spending tax dollars to protect grizzly bear habitat
in areas where their survival is at risk.
- Almost 70 per cent of the respondents are willing
to pay a surcharge if the money was used specifically
for protecting the park's endangered grizzly bears.
The vast majority of people surveyed are willing to
endure inconvenience and restrictions to ensure the
persistence of grizzly bears in Banff National Park.
- More than 80 per cent of the respondents would support
hiking and camping restrictions to protect grizzly
bear habitat.
- More than 85 per cent are willing to accept some
level of inconvenience during their visit to the park
if it would help the survival of a grizzly bear.
- Almost 80 per cent are willing to accept a "moderate
to great level of inconvenience," and almost half
are willing to accept more than a moderate level of
inconvenience.
- More than 95 per cent do not believe access to the
trails or backcountry is too restrictive in Banff
National Park.
The vast majority of people surveyed support management
actions that place the needs of grizzlies above the
needs of people.
- Almost 80 per cent of the respondents believe that
inside the park the needs of animals like the grizzly
should come before the needs of people. Only 4.6 per
cent believe people should come first.
- More than 80 per cent do not believe animals, including
grizzly bears, are resources people can use as the
see fit.
- Only 1.2 per cent believe grizzly bears are a "nuisance"
in the park.
- Only 28 per cent would support the trapping and
relocation of a grizzly bear if closing a trail or
campground would result in financial hardship for
a local business owner. However, more than 50 per
cent believe grizzly bears that enter campgrounds
should be trapped and moved to remote areas.
The vast majority of people surveyed are not afraid
of grizzly bears.
- Only 9.2 per cent of respondents indicate they will
not camp and hike in BNP because they are afraid of
grizzly bears.
- Only 5.8 per cent believe an encounter with a grizzly
bear on a trail would lead to an attack.
- Only 1.3 per cent believe grizzly bears should be
eliminated from the park because they are dangerous.
- Only 4.6 per cent believe that it is in a grizzly
bears nature to want to kill humans.
- Only 5.9 per cent believe grizzly bears are naturally
cruel.
- Only 13.1 per cent believe visitors should be allowed
to carry guns to protect themselves while in grizzly
country.
Most people surveyed are opposed to hunting grizzly
bears.
- More than 90 per cent of the respondents believe
that hunting a grizzly bear would NOT be a rewarding
experience.
- 75 per cent of respondents believe it is "morally
wrong" to kill a grizzly bear "under most circumstances."
- 61 per cent of the respondents believe grizzly bear
hunting should be stopped.
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