BRITISH COLUMBIANS SAY HUNTING OF BLACK BEARS
SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE

Survey Question No. 1          Survey Question No. 2


The most recent public opinion research conducted province-wide in British Columbia shows that a majority of British Columbians believe black bear hunting should be allowed to continue.

In specific questions about black bear hunting, the research shows that more British Columbians believe that black bear hunting should be allowed to continue than those that don't, and the acceptability level increases to an even higher level when they realize all the regulations that are in place that must be followed by hunters. It increases again when they are provided with information about the number of bear/human complaints.

When asked directly, 56% of British Columbians surveyed across the province support black bear hunting versus 40% who said they did not (4% had no opinion). Support for bear hunting ranges from 48% in the Vancouver area to 57% on Vancouver Island to 76% in the north central part of the province where people live in close proximity to the bears.

The level of support for hunting black bears has continued to increase in every public opinion survey conducted since 1997. The expressed level of support of black bear hunting increases with the amount of information provided.

The hunting of black bears is regulated by the provincial government in several ways, including the following:

Hunting can only occur at certain times of the year

The baiting of bears by luring them with food is not allowed

Hunters can take no more than two bears per year

All edible meat must be removed

Bears two years or younger and mother bears with cubs cannot be taken

Under these regulations, do you believe the hunting of black bears should or should not be allowed to continue?
(Results for all of British Columbia)

The results of the research poll showed that even people who have just the basic information about black bear hunting are more inclined to allow the hunting of black bears than disallow it.

Last year in B.C., Conservation Officers at the Ministry of Environment received more than 11,000 complaints about black bears. The complaints vary in nature from bears in people’s yards and digging through garbage to bears coming in contact with people and domestic animals such as cattle. One of the methods used by the Wildlife Branch of the Ministry to manage black bear populations in BC is the use of regulated hunting. Given this, do you believe the regulated hunting of black bears should or should not be allowed to continue?
(Results for all of British Columbia)

In the latest research, once the respondents became more aware of black bear conservation and management practices in the province, the level of support for hunting increased significantly. The level of support rises to 64% or nearly 2/3rds of all British Columbians after the respondents are informed that the Wildlife Branch of the Ministry of Environment, Lands & Parks uses black bear hunting as a management tool. When the respondents were told of the number of bear complaints each year in British Columbia, support for bear hunting overall moved up another 8 percentage points, including a jump of nearly 10 points in the Vancouver area alone.

This research is part of regular polling carried out by MarkTrend Research of Vancouver on behalf of the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia to monitor public opinion and attitudes on wildlife related issues, especially Grizzly Bear hunting.

About 500 people across the province are polled each time. At the 95% level of confidence the margin of error on the total sample of 502 is plus or minus 4.4%.





The level of support for hunting black bears has continued to increase in every public opinion survey conducted since 1997.