Canada conservationists push back as grizzly hunting ban lifted

AFP | Ottawa

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

A decision to partially reverse a nearly two-decade ban on hunting grizzly bears in Canada’s Alberta has angered environmentalists, with a group saying Wednesday they feared its impact on the species.

Hunting of the mammals, listed as threatened in 2010 by the western Alberta province, had been prohibited for 18 years leading to growth in the population of grizzlies. But there has also been conflict between bears and humans, Alberta authorities say.

The number of grizzlies has increased from 800 to more than 1,150 today, provincial authorities say, and that has caused them to move to more populated rural areas. “Hunting is not an acceptable management approach for a threatened species,” said Devon Earl of the Alberta Wilderness Association.