British Columbia Bans Grizzly Bear Hunting This Fall

Remember that story NRAHLF.org posted warning of the HSUS-backed animal rights extremists’ campaign to end grizzly bear hunting in British Columbia by making sure the liberal New Democratic Party (NDP) won the B.C. general election on May 9? Once again touting emotion over sound science, the antis got their way as the B.C. government announced yesterday that it will end all grizzly bear hunting effective November 30th. (Facts are still coming forward, but it appears that hunting grizzlies for meat will still be permitted except for in the Great Bear Rainforest.)

Why were there no stakeholder consultations before this drastic action with unintended negative consequences was taken? As NRAHLF.org reported in April and as groups such as Safari Club International (SCI) pointed out yesterday, a simple regulation change ensuring that all harvested grizzly bears be utilized by the hunter/outfitter could appease the majority of British Columbia residents, as well as being equitable for the industry and business-related constituents.

Hopefully with many of the U.S.-based hunting and wildlife conservation groups already primed to take action, this will not be the end of the story. I hope it does not take human-bear conflict to bring this back to the forefront!