| Environmentalists say new grizzly bear population data in southern Alberta is alarming, and they are calling on the government to classify the bears as endangered and take immediate steps to halt their decline.
The provincial government recently released the results of a DNA population survey of grizzlies that live between the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 3, which runs through the Crowsnest Pass. Researchers estimated there are 90 bears in the entire 7,639-square-kilometre area. In 2006, the government released DNA population estimates for the area between the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 11, which runs from Red Deer to the Icefields Parkway. That survey found only 45 bears. In a DNA population estimate for the area between Highway 11 and Highway 16 (Yellowhead) there were 42 bears counted. The province is conducting population surveys for grizzlies north of Highway 16 and south of Highway 3 this summer.
Jim Pissot, executive director of Defenders of Wildlife, says the new figures indicate there could be fewer than 500 grizzlies in the province. "Under the Wildlife Act here in the province these bears fully qualify, given their low numbers, for endangered status," says Pissot. "I don’t think Alberta’s grizzly bears have enough time for the province to drag its feet… to begin to implement the recovery plan while it continues to build roads and allow access and destroy the little bit of grizzly habitat that’s left."
In 2002, Alberta’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee recommended that the grizzly bear be listed as threatened based on an estimated population of 1,000 bears. Tracey Henderson, program director of the Grizzly Bear Alliance, says international experts agree that if the grizzly population is below 500, it needs to be listed as endangered. "The World Conservation Union (international conservation network) recommends when your population is as low as our grizzly population here that it be listed as endangered. (The government) needs to respect the science and take the appropriate steps," says Henderson.
The provincial government currently lists the grizzly bear as a species of special concern and created a draft recovery plan in 2004. However, Henderson says the recovery plan still hasn’t been approved. "The population is small in large part because of our uncontrolled activity in grizzly bear habitat. Industrial as well as residential development on the landscape has proceeded to a point where we’re fragmenting grizzly bear habitat," she says. "Unless we do something to ensure we have enough protected, secure habitat for grizzly bears, the population will continue to decline. We’re not talking about having to put aside huge tracts of wilderness where no development can happen. We’re talking about planning activities in grizzly bear habitat more responsibly."
Henderson says in some areas the government will have to limit road density, as well as area access, to protect grizzlies. "We know what a recovery plan needs to do. We just need a government that is willing to implement it and to provide the necessary funding for a comprehensive recovery plan."
Nigel Douglas, conservation specialist for the Alberta Wilderness Association, agrees that habitat protection is crucial. "If we carry on managing land the way we do in Alberta, grizzly bears will disappear. I think there’s very little doubt about that. These are political decisions effectively, so it really comes down to if Albertans care enough about grizzly bears, then we have to make sure there are changes on the land. Otherwise we’re going to lose them," he says. "The Alberta government is still talking about growth, putting the foot on the gas and the economy. That’s what’s going to kill grizzly bears."
Darcy Whiteside, spokesperson for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, points out that the provincial government put a three-year moratorium on hunting grizzlies in 2006. The moratorium was put into place to give the government enough time to collect Alberta-wide DNA population estimates for grizzlies. Whiteside says the government is also focusing on reducing conflict between humans and grizzlies, which can result in the death of grizzlies. "We’re using a number of techniques to ensure our grizzly population is managed," says Whiteside. |
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