Bear Matters BC

Koda and Espen are six-month old grizzly cubs, newly admitted to The Northern Lights Wildlife Society Animal Shelter. The cubs will stay at the shelter for one year for rehabilitation until they are fit to return to the wild.

Submitted photo

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Minister Penner Viewing Grizzly Release Preparations July08 Other photos at http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/gallery/index.html#  

Hi All,

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http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=895d8ffb-0c88-47c0-b2a1-217b827a7ac8&k=55985

Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun

Published: Sunday, July 13, 2008PRINCE GEORGE - For two hours orphaned grizzly cubs Suzie and Johnny tested their new-found freedom with curiosity and trepidation.
Raised in captivity and released Saturday northeast of Prince George near the Parsnip River, the grizzlies stepped from a cylindrical steel cage into a logging clearcut.
Black bears released back into the wild often scoot away into the forest, but not these 1.5-year-old grizzlies — raised at the Northern Lights Wildlife Society rehab facility in Smithers since the deaths of their mothers last year.View Larger Image

Female Grizzly Bear Cub “SUZY” awaiting her release from the World’s First Grizzly Rehabilitation Center at Northern Lights Wildlife Center in Smithers, BC.

ROLF KOPFLE / Special to the Vancouver Sun

It had been a long and dusty four-hour drive, and Johnny wasn’t going anywhere until he had a bite of grass. Both bears eventually wandered downhill into a clearing to explore the wild on their own for the first time.

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Update July 2^nd 2008 Note: please distribute this e-mail widely My name is Kim Elmslie and I am writing to you on behalf of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Angelika Langen, one of the directors of the Northern Lights Wildlife Society (NLWS).  We wanted to provide you with some background on the pilot grizzly bear rehabilitation project that is happening in British Columbia this summer. 

IFAW first became involved with NLWS in May 2007 when Angelika Langen attended the first Bear Rehabilitation Workshop in Russia.  For over a year NLWS and IFAW have been working together with the British Columbia Ministry of Environment on a pilot project to rescue, rehabilitate, release and monitor grizzly bear cubs that have been orphaned.  One of the objectives of the pilot grizzly bear rehabilitation project is to create standards and protocols.  While the bears are in care, valuable information about grizzly behaviour, nutritional needs, medical treatment and facility requirements will be collected so that it can be shared with wildlife rehabilitators and others.   A second objective of the pilot project is to monitor the bears once they are released into the wild. The data gathered from post release monitoring will assist in determining what happens to the bears when they are released back to the wild and will answer questions regarding survival rates, possible human/bear conflict situations and their ability to integrate into the existing wild population. 

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   Ian McAllister photo

Several years ago, the B.C. Liberal government lifted a ban on hunting grizzlies, but critics say the decision was based on faulty science.
<http://www.straight.com  By Andrew Findlay
Publish Date: June 26, 2008
The Zodiac glides along the water, nudging up against the bank of a river that flows into the heart of the Fiordland Recreation Area on the central coast. The passengers step out and wade through a lush estuary blossoming with purple lupines and knee-deep in Lyngby’s sedge, a favourite springtime food of coastal grizzlies. Here and there, the fertile alluvium is freshly overturned where a grizzly has clawed the ground to uncover succulent silverweed roots. A quick scan of the broad floodplain with binoculars reveals two grizzlies methodically eating their way along the forest’s edge, their distinctive shoulder humps shimmering with blond-brown fur. Camera shutters click furiously.
More and more foreigners are paying top dollar for the opportunity to see a magnificent grizzly in the wild. British Columbia, though, still permits the sport killing of an animal that is highly evocative of what remains of our wilderness and is regarded as a keystone indicator of ecosystem health. Last year, a record-setting 430 grizzlies died for sport, for animal control, or from poaching, yet the complex science used by government to establish hunting quotas remains at the heart of one of the most controversial wildlife-management issues in Canada. That’s why environmentalists, First Nations, and bear-viewing companies believe the province is risking international shame over the hunting of grizzlies, considered by the federal Species at Risk Act, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, and the B.C. Conservation Data Centre to be a species of special concern.
A recent public-opinion poll that says most British Columbians—73 percent—want the provincial government to end the hunt is adding fuel to the controversy. The poll was commissioned by Pacific Wild, a nonprofit group started last year by Ian McAllister after his split from the Raincoast Conservation Society, an environmental group he helped found more than 15 years ago.

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Globe and Mail Article – Exclusive by Mark Hume    June 10, 2008Bear Matters Note: please vote for this article at bottom of page at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080610.wbcbear10/BNStory/National/home MARK HUME From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail

June 10, 2008 at 4:00 AM EDTVANCOUVER — Seven years after the British Columbia government lifted a moratorium on the sport hunting of grizzly bears, a growing number of people want to see the practice banned again.According to a poll to be released today, 73 per cent of British Columbians support an end to the trophy hunting of grizzlies, a substantial increase from the 52 per cent who were opposed in 2001, when the hunt resumed after the newly elected Liberal government overturned a moratorium imposed six months earlier by the NDP.“That’s a 21-point increase since the moratorium was lifted,” said Ian McAllister, director of a non-profit wildlife conservation group, Pacific Wild. “It was an unpopular decision when the government lifted the ban and it’s even more unpopular now.“The people of B.C. are generally more interested in the environment than they were in the past and I think we’re seeing that reflected in the increased numbers,” Mr. McAllister said of the poll, which was commissioned by his organization. “I think the message here is clear: Just ban the hunt.” Mr. McAllister said he hopes the poll, together with voter pressure during an election year, will persuade the provincial government to reinstate the moratorium.“People are getting frustrated over this issue,” he said. “The government has failed to protect grizzly bear habitat … and people are getting tired of hearing about bears being killed for sport.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:     

JUNE 10, 08 MEDIA CONTACT: IAN MCALLISTER, PACIFIC WILD, Email: info@pacificwild.org ( no affiliation or relation to McAllister Opinion Research) 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BELLA BELLA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Canada, April 1, 2008 –/WORLD-WIRE/– Two years after B.C. Premier Campbell announced a “historical land use agreement” that was intended to protect Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, it remains unlegislated. Although the land use agreement was supposed to establish new conservancy boundaries, new large scale industrial proposals are planned within these same areas—leaving the world renowned Great Bear Rainforest under threat once again.

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Join Charlie Russell and Ian McAllister, two of Canada’s leading wildlife advocates for an unforgettable evening of adventure, exploration and front-linestories of living with grizzly bears and wolves at remote outposts ofthe north Pacifi coast. A multi-media presentation on the awe inspiring wilderness ofRussia’s Kamchatka peninsula and the Great Bear Rainforest.

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For a 300kb pdf version of this email, including some beautiful photographs, click here (recommended - relax with it over breakfast!): http://www.beartrek.org/pdf/letterforfriendsfamilycolleagues.pdf <http://www.beartrek.org/pdf/letterforfriendsfamilycolleagues.pdf> . Please feel free to forward far and wide! 31st December, 2007Dear Friends, Ffamily, and Colleagues,

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Volunteers Needed:In May of this year IFAW hosted the first International Bear Rehabilitation Workshop in Russia. For the first time, IFAW brought together bear rehabilitation experts, representing all seven bear species to share their knowledge and expertise. The conference was conducted in both English and Russian with a full English audio recording of the entire proceedings. We are now seeking 10 volunteers who will be able to aid us in transcribing the audio files. IFAW will supply you with a disk (available as an audio CD or an MP3 file) containing 90 minutes of recording. It will take approximately 5-6 hours of time to complete the transcription. We are aiming to have the entire transcription completed by the November 7^th.

The transcripts will be used to assist us in the production of the conference proceedings. This is a document that will be used to support and promote the rehabilitation and release of injured and orphaned bears around the world.

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 click to view poster

The Squamish Bear Network presents:

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North Island Wildlife Recovery Society -photo

August 9, 2007
Advocacy groups laud no-shoot policy
By MATT KIELTYKA, 24 HOURS

The provincial government’s recent decision to rehabilitate orphaned bear cubs, instead of shooting them, has conservation advocates bearing some hefty grins.
Barbara Murray, of Bear Matters B.C., says the “no kill” policy - put in place after public uproar over the controversial shooting of a cub in Whistler last month - is an encouraging step.
“We’re delighted with the change in attitude,” she said. “Black bears may not be at risk, but this is an important ethical decision. We need to protect our animals.”
Cubs belonging to killed “conflict” mothers, or those deemed too weak to survive on their own, have been shot in the past, according to Murray.
Under the revised policy, those cubs will be taken to rehabilitation centres instead in the hope of releasing them back into the wild.
It’s a good plan, but Murray says the province needs to step up with funding for B.C’s. four bear rehabilitation centres.
“My concern is that there may not be enough room for the cubs,” she said. “[The centres] are already almost full as it is. We need to expand these facilities.”
 

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Benjamin Kilham and Charlie Russell will be featured at Vancouver’s North Shore Bear Festival between April 25 and April 29. It will be the first time these two bear experts have met and presented on the same stage.

I am happy to announce that you can now read about Benjamin Kilham and his work on his own website. His work is truly amazing and his insight into the world of bears (and humans) is so very valuable as we struggle to co-exist as humans and with our wildlife counterparts. Please check out his story and goals. Learn and Enjoy! Lots of great bear photos !!!

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