A rally in support of ending the grizzly bear trophy hunt is being held at the Parliament buildings in Victoria on Feb. 15 at 2 p.m.
There appears to be very little debate among the public, with opinion polls showing 87 per cent of British Columbians against the hunt. Any real debate, it seems, is between the people and the government itself, which is why there will be a rally on the steps of the government buildings.
I was interested to learn that our neighbour, the province of Alberta, has held a moratorium in place on grizzly hunting since 2006. Through a little more research, I learned the reason they have a moratorium is because they can’t find a grizzly bear in Alberta – they are officially listed as “extirpated,” which means locally extinct. It would seem that the moratorium message is, “if you see one, don’t shoot it because it could be the only one.”
Is this what it has to come to in B.C. before we recognize how fortunate we are to have these beautiful animals as a living symbol of our province? Killing the grizzlies does not in any way contribute to conservation of the species as hunters would have us believe. Studies are proving that a bear is far more valuable alive for eco-tourism than dead as one hunter’s trophy.
Many British Columbians believe that trophy hunting is unethical. All that is taken is the head and paws, sometimes the skin, and it is actually legal to abandon the beheaded, skinned corpse to rot where it lies.
If 87 per cent of the population disagrees with the trophy hunt, then why are the 13 per cent carrying so much weight? Perhaps Christy Clark will explain that to us on Feb. 15.
Jacqueline Hohmann
Surrey