11/05/2025
This is very unfortunate. ๐ญ
โ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐โ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ง: ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ
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๐ข๐โ๐ ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐, ๐ถ๐ต๐ถ ๐๐๐ค๐
๐ก๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฌ๐ฏ, ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฑ
In the wake of a recent grizzly bear mauling near Cochrane, Alta., Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen said โall options are on the tableโ for managing the provinceโs bear population โ including lifting a ban on hunting grizzlies.
While the province has had a ban on hunting grizzly bears since 2006, it introduced the Wildlife Management Responder Network program last year to allow โproblemโ grizzlies to be hunted. The programโs pool of โgrizzly respondersโ consists of qualified hunters who applied and were selected to target certain bears whenever the province deems it appropriate.
In June, a bear was killed near Twin Butte, a hamlet in southern Alberta, making it the first kill of the program, the minister later confirmed.
โI think as a responsible government looking at the safety of Albertans, that we have to act and we have to take all things under consideration,โ Loewen said, speaking to Alberta at Noonโs host Kathleen Petty.
โThere'll be studies done and everything, but I think it would be incredibly irresponsible for us as government concerned about the safety of Albertans just to put our heads in the sand and not look at the evidence that's before us,โ he added, referring to reports of bear maulings.
The most recent surveys of Albertaโs grizzly bear population were conducted seven years ago. In 2021, the province estimated Albertaโs grizzly bear population was โbetween 865 and 973โ bears, using data based on those 2018 surveys.
โThe traditional area of the grizzly bear is expanding,โ the minister said, explaining that grizzlies are venturing out further from their usual habitats into human-occupied areas.
When it comes to policy decisions on bear management, Loewen said that while there isnโt recent population data to draw on, the province can use โlocal ecological knowledgeโ from people who live in impacted areas.
For Kim Titchener, founder of Bear Safety and More, the lack of data plays a part in what she believes is the wrong approach to managing grizzly bear populations in the province.
โOur government has their head in the sand,โ she said, on Alberta at Noon. โThey're doing nothing. They're not looking at population numbers.
โShooting one grizzly bear that was a problem doesn't solve the problem of human-wildlife conflict in this province.โ
Colleen St Clair, professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta, said while the last bear population count in Alberta is a few years old, โit does suggest that grizzly bears are increasing in Alberta, supporting these anecdotal reports.
โThey are moving into areas that they haven't occupied for many decades.โ
St Clair added, โif the responder program achieves the same number of removals that happened previously with conservation officers โ that's about a little over five a year โ I think there's not necessarily a conservation reason to oppose that program.โ
But if closer to 15 bears are killed a year (which is the limit set by the province) through the responder program, that may not be sustainable with Albertaโs grizzly bear recovery plan, St Clair said.
Both St Clair and Titchener suggest more bear safety education for the public, especially for hunters and those who work with livestock and agriculture who are more likely to have bear encounters.
โEven hunters experienced with using guns are less likely to be able to do so successfully to deter an attack by a bear with a gun than they are with bear spray,โ St Clair said.
โThat might be because it's just hard to aim a gun accurately when you're being charged by a bear.โ
The Alberta governmentโs recovery plan includes grizzly habitat restoration in bear management areas, and raising awareness on co-existence with bears through education programs like Bear Smart.
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๐ฟ๐ช๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ก/๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐จ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ, ๐พ-๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐๐ช๐ก๐๐ง, ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐, ๐จ๐ค ๐ฌ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฟ ๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
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