unters
and other sustainable users of wildlife were shocked when a 3 year moratorium on
grizzly bear hunting was suddenly invoked in British Columbia on February 7 (see
our February 2001 eNewsletter editorial, "Ancient
Principles and New Alliances are Needed to Save Hunting"). Grizzly
bears are not threatened by hunting in B.C. The ban was precipitated by a short
but effective campaign waged by the Environmental Protection Agency, a strident
animal rights group, familiar to sustainable users of wildlife around the world.
Liberal Party leader Gordon Campbell was swept to power in a landslide
electoral victory in the Canadian province, winning 76 of 79 seats. The New
Democratic (socialist) party which invoked the ban, won only 3 seats, an
insufficient number to be recognized as official opposition. The Green Party did
not win a single seat.
In a letter to the BC Wildlife Federation prior to the election, Campbell
said that grizzly bears are in no danger in the province, and that hunting will
be quickly re-instated. Campbell also said that the grizzly ban "was a slap
in the face to ministry experts and clearly violated the principle of sound
scientific analysis for purely political reasons".
IWMC World Conservation Trust played a modest role in advocating a quick end
to the hunting moratorium on grizzly bears in the province. The IWMC March
eNewsletter editorial was used in an internet petition to government.
