Provincial Government Confirms Grizzly Bears Missing on BC North Coast:
Die-off attributed to salmon collapse and long, cold winter
by Pacific Wild.org
 The B.C. government has released its grizzly bear population survey results of the Kimsquit drainage on the BC north-coast and found nearly fifty-percent fewer bears than average, including 65% fewer cubs.
photo: Ian McAllister
"This was not a complex issue." states Ian McAllister of the wildlife conservation group Pacific Wild.
"We had an unprecedented collapse of wild salmon in 2008 depriving bears of their principle fall season food supply, followed by an unseasonably cold and long winter. This should have been grounds for the Province to be pro-active and manage coastal bears in a precautionary manner - the trophy hunt should have been cancelled."
Alarmed at the lack of bears showing up on their traditional salmon feeding rivers, this potential die-off was first reported by bear viewing guides and conservationists the beginning of September 2009. This was followed by a request for the BC Ministry of Environment to cancel the fall 2009 grizzly bear trophy hunt.
Conservationists fear that the actual toll on grizzly bears in many north coast drainages is greater than the Provinces recently released survey results.
"Our own field surveys show between 50% and 75% fewer bears in many watersheds, in particular cubs of the year were completely absent from numerous drainages - and we were out for over a month longer than the Provincial biologists." said McAllister.
"We were reluctant to accept that so many bears had switched food groups, preferring berries to salmon as some had theorized, so we continued to conduct surveys well after the berries had expired to be absolutely sure."
The 2009 Pink and Coho salmon returns were above average, so most of the bears that did survive last winter should have been observed feeding on salmon after the berries finished.
"When bears have easy access to salmon and no other dietary option before hibernating for the winter, it becomes very clear that we have experienced a die-off of a certain percentage of the population." McAllister further stated.
"The question now is how many bears were allowed to be killed for trophy while the Province sat on this data?"
The 2010 salmon forecast is expected to be extremely low putting even more pressure on the Provincial government to deliver an emergency recovery plan for BC's coastal bears.
Pacific Wild Press Release: For immediate release - November 3, 2009
Contact: Ian McAllister, Conservation Director
web: www.pacificwild.org
email: info@pacificwild.org
phone: 250-957-2480
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