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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Backgrounder |
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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Backgrounder |
VICTORIA – An independent scientific panel appointed on recommendations from the International Association for Bear Research and Management has confirmed that the B.C. government is managing grizzly bears effectively and using sound population estimates.
“We made a New Era commitment to replace the previous government’s blanket moratorium with regional moratoriums on grizzly bear hunting,” said Water, Land and Air Protection Minister Joyce Murray. “I’m pleased that the scientific panel’s report concludes that the harvest of grizzly bears in B.C. can be managed on a sustainable basis, with minimal risk of population declines.
“The report indicates that we are on the right track and that our population estimate of at least 13,800 bears is far more accurate than those suggested by some advocacy groups.”
The report strongly refutes population estimates of 6,000 or fewer bears, calling them “unreliable” and “biologically unrealistic.” The panel concluded that current protective measures, combined with some additional recommended measures, offer a “robust conservation strategy for grizzly bears.”
“We base our estimates on sound scientific methods, but there is always room for improvement,” said Murray. “We are acting immediately on many of the panel’s recommendations and will revise our long-term conservation strategy to ensure that healthy grizzly populations are sustained in the future.”
As recommended by the panel, the province will reduce the maximum allowable human-caused grizzly mortality rate to five per cent from six per cent in time for the spring 2004 hunting season. The province will also revise administrative unit boundaries and conduct additional research to track population trends.
The province will update the grizzly bear conservation strategy to address the panel’s recommendations for dealing with habitat issues, maintaining grizzly populations and establishing grizzly management areas. A public advisory committee made up of First Nations, hunters, guide outfitters, industry, conservationists, outdoor recreation users, naturalists and representatives of local and federal governments will provide input into the strategy.
“We are pleased that the province has accepted our recommendations to further improve a bear harvest management system that is arguably already one of the best in North America,” said James Peek, chair of the grizzly bear scientific panel.
For a copy of the panel’s final report, go to http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/wld/ and click on Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy.
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