Conservationists are calling on Premier Ed Stelmach to come up with an immediate strategy to recover the grizzly bear population after a manager with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) told the Edmonton Journal that the province will likely downgrade its grizzly recovery goals.
“It’s a disgrace,” says Jim Pissot of Defenders of Wildlife Canada. Conservationists estimate there may be less than 500 grizzly bears left in Alberta — maybe even 400 or fewer. The province is currently researching grizzly numbers, and SRD manager George Hamilton told the Journal that when the province eventually sets grizzly population targets, they’ll likely fall short of 1,000 and “look a lot like whatever it is we have today.”
A coalition of conservation groups is calling on the Alberta government to emulate successful U.S. attempts to recover grizzly bears by funding recovery and reducing disturbance in grizzly habitat.
Post the first comment: (Login or Register)