Whatever you celebrate this season, I have some good news to share. The province of British Columbia announced last week an end to grizzly bear hunting in the province. Earlier, they had ended “trophy hunting,” but left a loophole so large as to render the change nearly meaningless: they made an exception for hunters killing the large bears for meat. Thus, as long as a hunter ate the meat of the animal (reportedly palatable, if not haute cuisine) they got their trophy.
But, the province has a new government, the New Democratic Party (NDP), under the leadership of John Horgan. The NDP is the most progressive of the major political parties in Canada, but that does not mean it is necessarily animal-friendly. The combined lobby of interest groups opposed to any degree of animal protection in Canada is extremely powerful, and past NDP party leaders listened to working class people whose income derives from various forms of animal exploitation and who fear the so-called “animal rights” movement to a truly irrational degree. They have blocked pretty well all effort to upgrade the country’s greatly antiquated laws pertaining to animal welfare.
And, being a left-wing party in an age of so much right-wing success at the polls, the NDP has relatively rarely had a chance to govern. But, they did win in British Columbia last year and they did listen to the citizens of B.C., realizing that the vast majority of their constituents oppose any hunting of grizzly bears. The new law makes an exception for First Nations indigenous hunters, covered by treaty rights, but B.C. First Nations have largely championed bear protection, often assigning bears – both black bears and grizzlies – an important cultural and spiritual value.
Grizzly bear viewing generates significant income for the province, and that requires live bears. What is refreshing to me is to see these magnificent bears respected for the opportunity they provide for viewing, and not being regarded as something to be feared. The government acknowledges a shift in public attitude.
Technically, the “grizzly” is a form of what is known as the “brown bear” (although other bear species can be brown) that is found around the northern hemisphere, especially in the far north. But, in much of its range, it is either endangered or extirpated, and, at any rate, some places where it is still common are relatively hard for tourists to reach. British Columbia provides the necessary support structure for tourism in combination with beautiful wilderness settings.
Detractors have whined that habitat loss is a greater threat to grizzlies than hunting. So what? I am all for protecting habitat from encroachment, but hunting is a needless exercise that can be simply ended.
You might want to thank the Hon. John Horgan via email or by phoning 1-250-387-1715 or 1-250-391-2801 or by regular mail at 122 – 2806 Jacklin Rd., Victoria, B.C. V9B 5A4, Canada.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry