Victoria — British Columbia is managing its grizzly bear population well enough to allow continued trophy hunting, says an independent scientific panel report released Friday.
The Liberal government said the 90-page report concludes the B.C. grizzly population can sustain the current level of hunting, which takes between 220 and 250 grizzlies each year.
But environmental groups opposed to grizzly bear hunting vowed to mount national and international protest campaigns and called for the resignation of Joyce Murray, B.C.'s water, land and air protection minister.
Murray said the report indicates British Columbia is on the right management track. She said government grizzly population estimates of at least 13,800 bears are more accurate than the estimates of 6,000 grizzlies made by environmental and anti-hunting groups.
The government will accept the six-member panel's recommendation to reduce to five per cent from six per cent the allowable annual grizzly kill, she said.
The five per cent also includes grizzlies killed in human-caused incidents other than hunting, Murray said.
British Columbia's Liberal government lifted a blanket grizzly hunting moratorium imposed by the former New Democratic Party government shortly after its election in May 2001.
The Liberals replaced the moratorium with its B.C. grizzly bear conservation strategy, which aimed to ensure the survival of British Columbia's greatest wilderness symbol.
Chris Genovali, Raincoast Conservation Society spokesman, said the methodology the government used to calculate the grizzly population is subjective and based on opinions as opposed to scientific fact.
He said a recent study by Dr. Phillip McLoughlin, a University of Alberta grizzly expert, concluded there is a 50 per cent chance that the province's grizzly population will decline by 20 per cent over the next 30 years as a result of hunting.
"Anything less than a recommendation by this panel to reinstate a full moratorium cannot be viewed as scientifically defensible," said Genovali.
He accused the government of bowing to the sport hunting lobby, which supports the grizzly hunt.
"We've got Stone Age wildlife management policies and they are getting worse under the Liberal government," Genovali said.
"Murray is shaping up as possibly the most ignorant, ineffective and incompetent environment minister in the history of this province."
A spokesman for B.C. hunting guides said the report ensures the survival of the grizzly as a species, as well as the trophy hunting industry, which contributes $50 million annually to the B.C. economy.
"The good news is that this group of six scientists has said, 'hey B.C.' you are doing an okay job when it comes to managing grizzly bears," said Dale Drown, Guideoutfitters Association of B.C. spokesman.
The are 175 register guide outfitters in B.C., he said.
