B.C. urged to end grizzly hunt

A coalition of conservationists and scientists from across Canada and the U.S. has written a letter to the B.C. government, demanding an end to hunting grizzly bears in the province.

The coalition challenges the government's claim that there are up to 17,000 grizzly bears in the province, spokesman Dr. Paul Paquet said Monday.

There's no accurate figure to reflect such a claim, or that the bear population can support a limited hunt in B.C., said Paquet, an adjunct professor of environmental design at the University of Calgary.

"It's a guess based on some very, very rough estimates that wouldn't stand up to scrutiny," he told CBC News in a telephone interview on Monday.

"The figure could be correct — I'm not disputing that possibility — but a figure of 5,000 could be correct as well."

A host of threats — including habitat loss from mining and logging, hunting and poaching — has continually created difficulties for grizzlies, said Paquet, a member of a scientific panel that gave advice on grizzlies to the former NDP government 10 years ago.

Paquet said the letter is meant to remind the current government it has failed to act on recommendations by previous scientific panels to protect grizzly habitat.

"If you look at the future of British Columbia and the ongoing destruction of the environment, which is substantial … we can only anticipate there are going to be increased difficulties for grizzly bears," he said.