The Grizzly Facts

What is really happening with grizzly bears in British Columbia? Are they actually declining as some organizations would have the public believe or in fact are they stable or even increasing throughout their current range?

To begin with, the last estimates derived by the provincial wildlife branch determined that there are 10,000 to 13,000 grizzly bears in this province. These are province-wide estimates from the wildlife biologists working for the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. There is no question that these figures are conservative. They are also out of date, and the province is currently updating the grizzly bear estimates based on new findings. Over the past several years, the province has spent millions of dollars from the Forest Renewal fund, inventorying bears. Professional wildlife biologists, doing inventory work with grizzlies, are invariably finding higher populations than the previous estimates indicated. The so-called preservationist or anti-hunting groups will argue that there "could be" as few as 6,000, or even 4,000 grizzlies living in British Columbia. These numbers have no basis in fact and are being perpetuated by some individuals and organizations to further their own agendas of anti-hunting and anti-logging. These alarmist estimates were flatly refuted by grizzly bear scientists and experts at the 2nd meeting of the Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy Group stakeholders' meeting in November 1997. As the preliminary findings of the intensive FRBC funded bear inventories are showing, the current estimate will either be upheld or even increased.

Some well meaning people seem to believe that if the province eliminates all hunting of grizzlies that the bears will prosper and live in peace with man. This is not only untrue, it is also dangerous for both the bears and humans. Hunting of bears has the tendency to remove the more aggressive bears from the population. Numerous studies as well as practical experience has shown that if there is no hunting component to bear management, these large carnivores will increasingly learn to become more aggressive. The result will be more human/bear conflict. More bear caused injuries, less human tolerance for bears and an increased incidence in destroying "nuisance" or "problem" bears in this province.

This may not immediately impact someone living in greater Vancouver, but for those people who live, work or recreate in the interior of British Columbia it is of serious concern. Workers' Compensation Board staff in the northeast part of the province report that they have seen a 50% increase in bear encounters over the past five years. We are already seeing more bear/human interactions and more Parks closures due to bear encounters. If bear encounters continue to increase in B.C., we will see more Parks and Forest Service recreation areas closed for longer periods of time simply because of the problem of personal liability law suits.

Another aspect of the preservationists' plan is to use their attack on grizzly hunting to stop resource extraction in British Columbia. They have no concerns with bear/human conflicts, because they believe that large areas of the province should be set aside as bear sanctuaries, where there would be extremely limited human access. This would mean a reduction in resource use such as forest harvesting or mining, and severe limits on commercial or public recreational use. This would put more pressure on the already overtaxed provincial economy and put pressure on remaining resource management areas

Preservationist groups have tried to convince the general public that forest harvesting is detrimental to grizzly bear survival. Bear researcher, Gary Shelton, in his excellent book, "Bear Attacks ñ The deadly truth", notes that forest harvesting activity can actually increase bear populations in the wetter ecosystem of the province because of the forage created. Even in the East Kootenays, which has been logged and heavily roaded over the years, grizzly populations are certainly stable, if not increasing. Forest harvesting if done to modern standards does not decrease bear populations.

The real danger to grizzly bear populations is the destruction of vital habitat. The bears would be better served if the environmental organizations that spend their time trying to force personal anti-hunting philosophies on the rest of the province would expend their energies toward more positive endeavours, such as purchasing wildlife habitat and supporting scientific wildlife management policies in British Columbia.

Estimated population: (Province of British Columbia)

1978 – 8,000 1998 – 10,000 to 13,000

This does not necessarily indicate that the grizzly population has increased by this amount in the 20 years, but may reflect the results of increased inventory work.

Grizzly bear harvest:

Hunting licences sold – approximately 1,800 each year.

Legal harvest – 219 bears in 1997. (Resident & non-resident hunters).

Conservation Officer kills re problem bears – approximately 50 bears per year.

Estimated unreported kills – 90 bears per year.

Total grizzly bear mortality – approximately 350 bears per year.

Sustainable mortality level – 3.8% to 8% (Based on the population estimate of 13,000 bears, this means that a minimum mortality level would be 494 bears.)

This study has been ongoing since 1978. The initial population estimate in 1987 was 95 grizzlies. Research has shown that there has been a yearly net growth in this population of 8%. Although official Ministry estimates have not been changed, it is now believed by researchers that the population in the study area is at capacity, which is approximately 170 bears.

For further information, please contact the B.C. Wildlife Federation