HUNTING FACTS

• The estimated population of grizzly bears is 12,000 in 51 of 60 grizzly bear management units where hunting is allowed (1,000 grizzly bears are in National Parks or in areas closed to hunting).

• The total known human-caused mortality including hunting, vehicle collisions, problem bear control and poaching averages a maximum of 4% of the managed population per year.

• Of the 4%, the annual total hunter harvest is 1.9% or less than half of the total grizzly bear mortalities.

• Grizzly bears are capable of increasing at a rate of 8% per year and a harvest rate of 4% is conservative and sustainable.

• Government wildlife biologists decide where, when and how many grizzly bears can be hunted, while ensuring the overall population of grizzly bears remains healthy and stable.

• Many experienced wildlife managers believe that hunting makes bears wary and helps to reduce the numbers of problem bears.

• Females with cubs are protected from hunting by regulation. Problem bear control, however, does not differentiate and leads to the death of more females and cubs.
 BEAR VIEWING NOT A PANACEA

Some tourism operators feel that hunting can be replaced by bear viewing. Bear viewing, however, brings its own set of problems. Bears habituated to people can become a nuisance to local communities or to tourists thereby causing human safety concerns.

Val Geist, Professor Emeritus at University of Calgary has warned, "People innocently enthusiastic about large, attractive creatures, especially tourists or photographers armed with cameras and video recorders, inevitably create situations that can lead to human injuries, and to near certain destruction of the animals they photographed."

Hunting is a traditional form of tourism that has employed people, brought outside dollars into rural communities, and created a focus for research and education for many years.