The grizzly bear hunt is back on in Alberta.
Except it isn’t, but it depends on who you ask. If it’s the province, it’s not returning but conservation groups may have an opposing view.
But in the meantime, if you want to buy a licence to hunt down “problem” grizzlies, get your wallet out because you’re in luck.
The provincial government quietly amended the Wildlife Act last month in a ministerial order that will allow an adult Alberta resident the ability to purchase a licence that is approved by the Minister of Forestry and Parks. If such a licence is received and a wildlife officer gives authorization, they have a 24-hour window to kill a bear that’s considered a public safety threat.
The new plan – which came without any provincial announcement or public consultation – is likely out of the ‘we tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas’ chapter of the wildlife management handbook.
The grizzly bear hunt was dismissed in 2006 and they were listed as a threatened species by Alberta’s government in 2010. It was first recommended to be listed a threatened species in 2002.
Since the hunt was removed, the grizzly bear population has slowly increased for a species that has a slow reproductive rate. The most recent province-wide census had the number between 856-973.
If the province wants lessons on wildlife management, it only has to look to the national parks to see proper efforts in maintaining and preserving wildlife, especially when it comes to grizzly bears.
Parks Canada has largely gone above and beyond the necessary steps when it comes to protecting wildlife.
Parks Canada enforced a no-stopping zone and reduced the speed limit on a stretch of Trans-Canada Highway in Yoho National Park to protect a well-known white grizzly bear No. 178. It also implemented a no-stopping zone along a stretch of the Bow Valley Parkway to stop people from trying to get photos of infamous grizzly bears No. 122 (The Boss) and No. 136 (Split Lip).
Relocation of grizzly bears has been proven to have limited success, with a 2018 study showing about one-third were successful making it all but a death sentence.
A grizzly bear that becomes acclimatized to human food and becomes a threat to people is occasionally euthanized.
But public education and community buy-in to respect human-wildlife interactions remain the best steps.
Locally, the towns of Banff and Canmore have spent significant time, effort and resources to develop strategies and plans to mitigate potential conflicts between wildlife and people.
But according to statistics from the province, eight people have been killed by grizzly bears since 2005 – including two last year in a remote section of Banff National Park – and 62 maulings.
To the province’s credit, the loss of livestock isn’t something that should be easily dismissed. People’s livelihoods depend on it and on the rare occasion when a grizzly does attack livestock – such as 22 sheep that were killed earlier this year in Sprint Point Colony west of Fort Macleod – it can be devastating.
Farming advocacy groups in the province have been lobbying for the return of some form of the hunt or at least the ability to shoot grizzly bears who attack their livestock.
However, it’s extremely rare and quite infrequent that a rash decision to amend the Wildlife Act – particularly without any fulsome public engagement – is shortsighted at best.
Rather than look at ways to mitigate or form partnerships with conservation groups, the answer is to lock-and-load – and it’s the latest failure in the province’s act now and hope no one notices approach to wildlife.
The return of a measure of a grizzly bear hunt – particularly without public consultation – is the latest failing of the provincial government when it comes to managing wildlife.