Recent attacks by grizzly bears are a reminder that we are increasingly in conflict with these giant predators.
Grizzlies are the animal most likely to attack humans in British Columbia, which is home to 15,000 of Canada’s 26,000 grizzly bears.
This week a group of school children and a teacher were attacked by a grizzly bear near Bella Coola, with 11 people suffering injuries. An elk hunter fought off a grizzly attack near Cranbrook on October 2 and later died from his injuries. A man hiking near Cochrane Alberta was mauled by a grizzly bear a few weeks ago and has survived his injuries.
This is the new normal.
Since the grizzly hunt ended in B.C. in 2017, grizzly-human conflicts have risen dramatically. In the 10 years preceding the ban, calls to the Conservation Officer Service concerning grizzly conflicts ranged from 300 to 500 a year, peaking between April and November. Since the ban, calls about grizzly bears doubled, to nearly 1,000 a year.
When hunting pressure is removed, the number of problem grizzlies increases. A lack of hunting pressure was cited by the Japanese Environment Ministry when the army was called in to protect residents of Akita Prefecture after 12 people were killed in bear attacks in just seven months.
Alberta now says that everything is on the table when it comes to reducing human-grizzly conflict, including lifting its own ban on grizzly hunting.
The grizzly hunt was terminated in B.C. due to popular opinion, with no scientific rationale. That was a shortsighted move.
“With no hunting pressure, grizzlies and humans will increasingly occupy the same spaces with inevitable consequences,” said B.C. Wildlife Federation Executive Director Jesse Zeman.
Our members in the Creston area say they no longer feel safe walking outside due to the rising number of frightening grizzly encounters. Communities across B.C. are coming to us with concerns about bear conflicts.
“When the hunt was closed we predicted that over time human-grizzly conflicts would increase, but we also know that bears that learn bad behaviours teach those same behaviours to their offspring,” said Zeman. “This will keep getting worse until science-based wildlife management is reinstated.”