Canada's grizzlies are under the gun and on the run.
by Gillian Steward
It's spring, and the trophy hunters are out and about in British Columbia looking for grizzly bears to kill. They won't be eating them of course; grizzly bear meat doesn't taste very good. But a grizzly bear rug looks great in front of the fireplace.
It's hard to believe in this day and age that people still want to kill an animal as iconic and magnificent as the grizzly just for the thrill of it; so a hunter can have his photo taken standing over the carcass. But hunting grizzlies is legal in BC. Last year, 334 were shot by trophy hunters.
Jeff Gailus has been tracking grizzly bears for more than 10 years. Not because he wants to kill them but because he wants to help them thrive; so he can convince governments, industry and rural and city dwellers, that if we don't protect grizzly habitat this truly awesome animal might go the way of the buffalo.
"The grizzly bear is a powerful symbol, especially in the Canadian west. People want the great bear out there in the wilderness," says Gailus, who first became enamoured with grizzlies when he was a newspaper reporter in Canmore, a town on the edge of Banff National Park. He eventually became so determined to save them that he wrote The Grizzly Manifesto: In Defence of the Great Bear.
About half of Canada's 30,000 grizzly bears live in BC. The rest can be found in Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. There are only about 600 left in Alberta, even though they once numbered in the thousands. By 2006 the population had dwindled so much that the provincial government suspended the grizzly hunt.
But trophy hunters are not the bears’ worst enemy.
Gailus says the bears are in far greater danger from the network of roads carved out by the oil and gas, forestry and mining industries. He also adds in the resorts, golf courses and second homes that now dot areas once wild and inaccessible. And then there are the "knuckleheads" who tear through the wilderness on their all-terrain vehicles (ATVs).
Even Banff National Park is not as safe for grizzlies as it could be, says Gailus, who now lives in Missoula, Montana, where he completed a master's degree in environmental science. Parks Canada is much more interested in attracting tourists than protecting wildlife, he adds.
"There's no question that once the bears are exposed to human activity, they die much more often," says Gailus. "They get shot by people who come across them, run over by trucks and trains."
According to Parks Canada's own estimates, about 60 grizzlies roam Banff National Park and many of them have become accustomed to snacking on grain spilled along the railroad tracks. Not surprising then that between 1990 and 2010 about a third of the grizzlies who died had been hit by trains. Almost the same number died on the highways in the park.
Because the grizzly is such an enormous animal and a voracious eater, it must range far and wide to find sufficient food; most of the time it's either famished after its long winter nap or fattening up in preparation.
That's why preserving the habitat it needs ensures that it will thrive.
According to Gailus, there is a successful example of this that Canadians, and grizzlies, could benefit from and it lies to the south of here in Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
In 1975 there were only about 200 grizzlies in the park and the great bear was declared an endangered species. Now, thanks to strong environmental laws in the US — particularly the Endangered Species Act — and the work of various enforcement agencies and environmental groups, the grizzly population has tripled.
"Limiting human access to grizzly habitat is the only successful strategy," says Gailus. "If we are serious about preserving our grizzly population, we need to do the same thing."
So far, the BC, Alberta and federal governments talk the talk, says Gailus, but when industrial expansion and tourism are pitted against grizzly conservation, the mighty bear usually loses.
Just as it does when faced with a hunter and a powerful rifle.
I once saw a golden grizzly in the Kananaskis mountain range just west of Calgary. Luckily I was in my car when it sprinted across the highway.
You never forget a moment like that, no matter how fleeting.
Here's hoping that bear is still out there.
About Gillian Steward
Gillian Steward is a Calgary writer and journalist, and former managing editor of the Calgary Herald.
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