Certain 'problem' grizzly bears can now be hunted in Alberta

The Alberta government will permit selective grizzly bear hunts should they meet certain criteria, raising concerns from environmentalists who worry about the impacts on a threatened species.

Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen made the change as part of a June 17 ministerial order. Under the order, the minister may issue what the province refers to as a "grizzly bear management authorization" for the purpose of hunting a grizzly.

"This is an overall management strategy for problem wildlife in particular, to make sure that we can respond to rural Albertans, both their concerns of safety but also loss of crop and loss of livestock," Loewen told CBC News. 

The provincial government said there has been a rise in reports of "problematic" and dangerous grizzly-human and grizzly-animal interactions. Some recent conflicts, the province suggests, have been predatory in nature. 

In 2020, there were three attacks, while 2021 recorded nine attacks by black and grizzly bears. The province said there were 104 attacks from 2000 to 2021.

The ministerial order states that authorizations can be issued if a grizzly has been involved in a human-bear conflict situation, or if the bear is located in an "area of concern." The bear must not be accompanied by a cub.

Sport hunting of grizzly bears in Alberta ended in 2006, and grizzlies were listed as a threatened species by the province in 2010, when the provincial population estimate was between 700 and 800.

In 2021, efforts to help the Alberta grizzly population recover were credited as the number of bears increased to somewhere between 856 and 973. Today, the province estimates more than 1,150 grizzly bears live in Alberta.

It took a strong effort from biologists to get the grizzly bear hunt suspended in the first place, said Devon Earl, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association. 

The worry is that bringing back a hunt, even in a limited capacity, could stifle what has been a successful recovery to this point.

"The risk is that we increase mortality of grizzly bears, and that we undo all of the recovery of the past couple of decades, because we have seen grizzly bear populations recovering in certain areas," Earl said. 

"And that doesn't mean that it's time to start up a grizzly bear hunt. It just means that some positive progress has been made. And we don't want to undo that."

Environmental groups are calling the move, in effect, a reintroduction of grizzly hunting in Alberta. But Loewen views it differently.

The program, he said, is a wildlife management tool that will create a pool of Alberta residents to act as "public wildlife management responders."