B.C.’s grizzly bear hunt isn’t for the good of the species, it’s for the enjoyment of humans

WEDNESDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — Grizzly bears have a target on their backs again in B.C. The spring hunting season began Tuesday and runs to May 31, with another season in the fall.

About 1,800 tags are being issued, more than last year.

Government bureaucrats say grizzly bear populations have stabilized and that opening up several areas for hunting is justified. One bear biologist said the number of bears is “good enough” to allow hunting.

But, as there always is when a species is opened up to hunting, there’s disagreement on how many grizzly bears there are in B.C. Provincial biologists say 15,000; conservationists say maybe 6,000.

Biologists say the population can withstand a hunt that will kill only a few hundred despite the number of tags issued. Conservationists say the numbers are dangerously low and no hunting at all should be allowed.

What sets the grizzly-bear hunt aside from, say, deer hunting, is that it is strictly for trophies. So, the idea is to kill the biggest and the best of the species.

Trophy hunting is the least defensible form of sport hunting because it’s a game of record keeping rather than putting food on the table. Some people find it fun, but it’s fun at the expense of the animal and, potentially, of the species.

So, the debate gets weighed down with disagreements about ethics rather than conservation. Human intervention to thin out a wildlife population is very often well-intentioned, whether or not trophy hunting in and of itself can be justified.

But in the case of the grizzly bears, one thing that’s almost certain is that they aren’t over-populated, which leaves the undeniable fact that this hunt isn’t for the good of the species but for the enjoyment of humans.

Which brings us back to the beginning of the argument.