ROTHENBURGER: When it comes to bears, we’re a bag of contradictions
Young grizzlies Moon and Star. (Image: Courtesy Northern Lights Wildlife Society)
STEWARDSHIP IS SUCH a positive sounding word. When used in connection with wildlife, it gives the impression of caring and protection.
That’s what it means to some people but others define it differently — as the supervision and management of species. That’s a different ball of wax.
The provincial government recently released a draft “stewardship framework” for B.C.’s grizzly bear population. It has a lot of conservationists worried that it could open the door to a return of licenced grizzly bear hunting, which was banned in 2017. (First Nations are still allowed to hunt grizzlies for food, social or ceremonial purposes.)
Licenced public hunting of grizzlies is trophy hunting. The bears are shot so someone can have them stuffed or made into rugs, not for their meat.
Our relationship with wildlife, especially bears, is a strange incongruity. Many humans will go to considerable lengths to rescue them and rehabilitate them when they’re threatened by natural disaster or loss of habitat but others think killing them with high-powered rifles is great fun.
Let me give you an example of the first approach.
Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
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