MONTREAL—Effective immediately, the Government of British Columbia has ended hunting of grizzly bears throughout the province. The move follows a longstanding campaign by animal welfare, conservation and First Nations groups seeking full protection for grizzlies. Humane Society International/Canada commends the BC Government for heeding public opinion and ensuring that trophy hunting of grizzlies is truly stopped in BC.

Rebecca Aldworth, executive director of Humane Society International/Canada, issued the following statement applauding the ban:

“The BC government has shown strong leadership and wise governance in ending the hunting of grizzlies throughout the province. The decision eliminates loopholes that would have allowed trophy hunting of grizzlies to continue, while respecting the will of the overwhelming majority of BC residents. Grizzly hunting has no place in the 21st century, and today’s announcement is a crucial step forward in protecting these majestic animals from senseless cruelty.”

Globally, HSI has been at the forefront of a powerful movement to stop cruel trophy hunting for good by blocking the trade in wildlife trophies, strengthening legal protections for wild animals, and educating the public about the devastating impacts of trophy hunting.

Facts:

• Trophy hunters have killed hundreds of grizzlies each year in British Columbia.
• Trophy hunting results in high wounding rates, with wild animals routinely left to suffer for extended periods of time before hunters retrieve them.
• Public opinion polling reveals that more than 90 percent of BC residents oppose trophy hunting.
• Grizzlies are listed as a species of “Special Concern” by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
• A 2013 study published in the Public Library of Science found that trophy hunting may be causing declines in bear populations, and that hunters were exceeding government quotas in half of the populations studied.
• Further independent studies have found that former government estimates of bear populations in BC are inaccurately high and, in reality, populations are too low to sustain current hunting levels.
• A 2012 study by the Center for Responsible Travel and Stanford University found that bear-viewing businesses in BC’s Great Bear Rainforest generated 12 times more visitor spending than bear hunting.