At least 19 bears in Alberta killed by humans last year
After learning that humans in Alberta caused more grizzly bear deaths in 2008 than the previous two years local conservationists are calling on the provincial government to label the bear as threatened and step up its efforts to prevent bear-human encounters.
At least 19 grizzlies in the province were directly or indirectly killed by humans last year according to recently released government stats. “It means [the grizzly bear population] is not recovering” says wildlife biologist Steve Herrero a professor emeritus of environmental science at the University of Calgary. “It’s probably still declining and I think everyone agrees that that’s not a desirable end.” The 19 dead bears represent the highest level of grizzly mortality since the government cancelled the grizzly hunt in 2006. (The province recorded 12 known deaths in 2006 and nine in 2007.)
Since conservationists estimate there are fewer than 500 grizzlies left in Alberta the high mortality rate is cause for concern. Grizzly deaths often go unreported and Carl Morrison of Sierra Club Canada’s Action Grizzly Bear campaign suggests that between 28 and 34 bears may have been killed in 2008 — which could represent more than six per cent of the total grizzly population. “It’s unsustainable” says Morrison. “We’re asking that the government give a serious commitment to grizzly bear recovery.”
The province’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee recommended the grizzly be labelled as threatened in 2002 but the government still hasn’t made the designation. “The main thing that needs to happen is the grizzly bear should be recognized for what it is: a threatened species in the province” says Herrero.
Of the 19 bears killed last year six were killed in self-defence. Another six were killed because they were deemed “problem bears” four were “accidental” deaths on rails or roads two were killed by aboriginal hunters and one was killed illegally. “Basically it comes down to two things: mortality from guns and mortality from fast-moving vehicles” says Herrero.
The first objective of the province’s grizzly recovery plan is to regulate human activity — specifically roads — in bear habitat to reduce human-caused mortality. “They’re not really taking the advice that the grizzly bear recovery team gave” says Philip Penner conservation director for the Federation of Alberta Naturalists. “We can only sustain so much in terms of mortality of the bears each year and we’re passing that with the numbers that we’re seeing right now.”
Darcy Whiteside a spokesperson for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development says that while the bear mortality numbers are “disappointing” the government doesn’t yet have enough information to designate the species as threatened. “We still don’t know the true population of grizzly bears in Alberta” says Whiteside. Old population estimates were unreliable guesses he says. “We don’t know if they’re increasing decreasing or staying the same. That’ll involve more research more data.” The province is currently researching the number of grizzlies in Alberta and Whiteside says his department isn’t sure when those numbers will be available.
However Herrero says the government has a rough idea of the population numbers. “They don’t have a sense of the trajectory but there’s no question that grizzly bears have lost major portions of their range in the province and that a lot of that has occurred in the last 10 20 and 30 years” says Herrero who’s been studying grizzlies since the ’60s. He also points out that conservationists have culled their estimates of 500 or fewer bears from the government’s own research. “To say that they don’t have a reasonable guesstimate as to the population size — that’s incorrect” he says. “Their own work shows it.”
Despite the bleak mortality and population numbers conservationists say recovery is still possible. “It’s very possible to do it but it does take a lot of political will” Herrero says. He recommends that Alberta emulate successful grizzly recovery attempts in the Yellowstone ecosystem south of the border. “They went from a population of about fewer than 300 bears and recovered it to over 600.”
Alberta has a Bearsmart program to educate the public and prevent human-bear encounters but Herrero says the program is under resourced. “Right now it has neither a leader nor anywhere approaching the amount of funding it would take to do a good job” says Herrero. “The idea is there but the execution is more lip service than reality.”
