Grizzly bears now considered a threatened species
Posted Jun 3, 2010 9:24 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The province has officially designated the grizzly bear as a threatened species.
There’s been pressure building to do so for about ten years.
This means new money will be rolled out on programs designed to help the bear population recover.
A threatened species is at serious risk of becoming endangered, if the conditions putting its survival at risk don’t improve.
Sustainable Resource Minister Mel Knight says the province is set to spend $1 million this year on programs like Bearsmart; an education tool to help people learn about the iconic beasts.
However, he says he still realizes the animals can be dangerous.
“So individuals, whether or not they are land owners or other people who happen to be on the landscape, if they come under imminent attack most certaintly they have a right and we would expect that they would protect themselves,” said Knight.
Knight says the grizzly is an important part of Alberta heritage and everything that can be done, must be done to keep the population going.
Alberta’s NDP party says the bear plan’s a boo-boo.
MLA Rachel Notley says the grizzly plan has no teeth and she’s calling for stricter limits to motor vehicle access.
She says we’re going to continue to lose grizzlies, if we don’t.
Notley goes on to say that Yellowstone Park succeeded in tripling their grizzly bear population, because they stopped access to habitat and stopped hunts.
She adds until action is taken to limit human contact with these animals, they will continue to be killed unnecessarily.
