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C B C . C A N e w s - F u l l S t o r y : Grizzlies
to get three-year reprieve from hunting in B.C. VICTORIA-- Environmentalists
in British Columbia expect the province to announce a three-year moratorium on
grizzly bear hunting today. The move comes as the government gears up for an
election campaign. The advertising campaigns
regarding the grizzly bear hunt are already in high gear, with environmentalists
trading accusations with groups who support the hunt. The issue threatens to be a
divisive one when Premier Ujjal Dosanjh calls an election, expected within
months. "Many British
Columbians feel that the grizzly bear sort of speaks to the soul of British
Columbians in many ways," said Dosanjh.
But many feel the NDP
government is bowing to pressure from foreign groups and trying to garner urban
votes. The moratorium has
"everything to do with politics," said Dale Brown, with the Guide
Outfitters Association of British Columbia. Others say the province
would be better to put in place a moratorium for 10 years so the bear population
can be studied. "We have places in the
Okanagan where there are no grizzly bears left at all," said Paul George,
founder of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. The exact number of the
bears roaming the B.C. wilderness is not known, and estimates vary wildly.
Official estimates place the number as high as 13,000, but some scientists say
there are really only about 4,000.
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