Provincial parks, the Rocky Mountain corridor and a major highway in British Columbia are the main areas where grizzly bears are being killed by sports hunters, according to a new statistical analysis by the David Suzuki Foundation.
Using provincial government records the environmental organization plotted on a map the locations where 11,000 grizzly bears have been killed in B.C. over the past 30 years.
"It paints a distressing picture," says Dr. Faisal Moola, director of terrestrial conservation for the David Suzuki Foundation.
"Our analysis shows evidence of massive hunting mortality along B.C.'s highways, particularly Highway 37 from Terrace to the Yukon border. . . [and it shows]B.C.'s grizzlies are no more protected in our parks than on the side of the road," said Dr. Moola.
Northern Rocky Mountains Park (98 bears killed), Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Park (73) and Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Park (53) are the top three B.C. parks in which grizzly bears have been killed.
Dr. Moola said hunting is not allowed in national parks but it can take place in provincial parks.
"The [provincial]minister has the discretionary power to shut down hunting in a park, but that is not happening," he said. "What we have is a parks system that protects bear habitat, but which doesn't protect the bears themselves."
Dr. Moola said the large number of bears killed throughout the Rocky Mountain corridor, from the B.C.-Montana border in the south to the B.C.-Yukon border in the north, is a major concern.
"Protecting the Yellowstone to Yukon corridor has been a key focus of environmental organizations for many years, but we can now see that there is no protection for bears that feed and breed in this corridor," he said.
Dr. Moola said he is also worried about the high number of bears shot along highways, because it illustrates how roads can concentrate hunting.
"One of the things we've always feared is that when you put roads into an area you provide access to hunters who would not otherwise have easy access to grizzly bears," he said. "We mapped point locations [with red dots]for every bear shot and on the map you can see that Highway 37 looks like a ribbon of red," said Dr. Moola.
B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner declined to be interviewed about the province's controversial bear hunt, which has been the focus this week of a newspaper advertising campaign launched by several Canadian and international environmental groups.
But Mr. Penner's office did issue a statement, under the heading, "Protecting B.C.'s Grizzly Bears."
In point form it states B.C. has Canada's "largest and healthiest" population of grizzly bears - with approximately 16,000 animals.
"The B.C. government is committed to protecting B.C.'s grizzly bear population by relying on peer-reviewed published science. There are many competing interests when it comes to managing grizzly bear populations, which range from guide outfitters, resident hunters, the ecotourism industry and others," it states.
"B.C.'s policy is to respect all interests while ensuring . . . the number one priority is always the maintenance of a healthy bear population," the release states.
The government also stated that bear hunting contributes about $120-million a year to the provincial economy, and while B.C.'s bear population is able to withstand a nine per cent hunting mortality annually, only about two per cent are actually shot.