Wildlife organization calls for hunting ban to be lifted amid B.C. grizzly attack
A B.C. wildlife group is urging the province to reconsider its ban on hunting grizzly bears following an attack that hospitalized an adult and three children in Bella Coola on Thursday afternoon.
Students and staff from the Nuxalk First Nation’s Acwsalcta School were on a field trip along a trail in the remote northern community when a bear attacked, injuring eleven people, including three students and a staff member who sustained serious injuries.
The B.C. Wildlife Federation, which represents anglers, hunters, outdoor enthusiasts, firearms owners, and recreational shooters, says the incident reflects a broader trend of increasing grizzly-human conflicts since the province ended grizzly hunting in 2017.
“We’ve definitely seen the number of human-grizzly-bear conflict calls increase across the province,” said federation executive director Jesse Zeman.
Zeman noted that prior to the ban, calls to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service regarding human-grizzly encounters ranged from 300 to 500 per year, a number that has nearly doubled to around 1,000 annually since the ban.
“In some areas, like Creston, people are afraid to walk outside because of repeated encounters with grizzly bears,” Zeman said. One local farmer, for example, said he now never leaves his house without dogs and a spotlight due to weekly bear conflicts.
This year, several grizzly encounters in B.C. have resulted in serious injuries and one fatality. In July, two bears attacked a couple riding e-bikes near Kootenay Lake in Creston. Last month, two hikers were seriously injured on a trail northeast of Prince George. A man in Fort Steele recently died after fighting off a grizzly while hunting in the East Kootenay region.
Earlier this year, two people were charged for killing a grizzly on Texada Island after the bear, which had been relocated twice, repeatedly approached humans and boats.
Zeman argued that not managing “problem” bears, particularly mothers, allows bold behavior to be passed to offspring. “When the grizzly bear hunt was stopped, we expected a gradual change, where offspring of bears unafraid of humans would continue to get into conflict,” he said.
He added that public education about bear safety—such as carrying bear spray or managing food attractants—has limits. “For bears who are not afraid of people, there’s no solution other than the fatal solution,” Zeman said.
The provincial government imposed an immediate ban on trophy hunting of B.C.’s estimated 15,000 grizzlies in 2017, aiming to protect one of the province’s “most iconic” species after consultations with First Nations, stakeholder groups, and the public.
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