FAILING B.C.’s GRIZZLIES REPORT CARD and RECOMMENDATIONS for Ensuring a Future for British Columbia’s Grizzly Bears FAILING B.C.’s GRIZZLIES: Report Card and Recommendations for Ensuring a Future for British Columbia’s Grizzly Bears By Jeff Gailus, M.Sc. On Behalf of the David Suzuki Foundation March 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author, Jeff Gailus, would like to thank the Sitka Foundation, Julie Glover, and the David Suzuki Foundation for its support and interest in pursuing Grizzly Bear conservation. For input and review, thanks to Wayne McRory, Kyle Artelle, and Dr. Chris Darimont. For support and input, thanks to Dr. Faisal Moola (University of Toronto), Dr. Clayton Apps, Dr. Bruce McLellan, Sylvia Dolson, Mara Kerry, Ian Hanington, Lisa Rockwell and Kiruthiha Kulendiren of the David Suzuki Foundation. ISBN 978-1-897375-60-0 Graphic design by Pete Tuepah and Nadene Rehnby handsonpublications.com Cover photo courtesy Szecska/Flickr Downloaded this report at davidsuzuki.org Suite 219, 2211 West 4th Avenue Vancouver, B.C. V6K 4S2 T: 604.732.4228 E: [email protected] www.davidsuzuki.org Contents PhOTO COURTESY SZECSKA/FLIckR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 5 HISTORY AND STATUS OF B.C.’s GRIZZLY BEARS ..................................................................... 7 PLANNING A HEALTHY FUTURE FOR B.C.’s GRIZZLY BEARS .................................................. 11 REPORT CARD ......................................................................................................................13 Assessing the B.C. Government’s Implementation of its Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy ..................................................................................... 13 Conserve Grizzly Bear Habitat ........................................................................................................15 Manage Human-Caused Grizzly Bear Mortality............................................................................ 17 Towards a Sustainable Grizzly Bear Hunt ................................................................................. 17 Reducing the Number of “Problem” Bears ...............................................................................20 Human-Caused Mortality in Threatened GBPUs ...................................................................... 21 Ensure Grizzly Bear Population Numbers are Accurately Known ..............................................22 Maintain the Abundance and Diversity of Grizzly Bears .............................................................24 Increase Scientific Knowledge of Grizzly Bears ...........................................................................26 Increase Public Knowledge of Grizzly Bears ................................................................................27 RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................................... 28 APPENDIX 1: B.C.’s THREATENED GRIZZLY BEARS ........................................................31 Southeast B.C. ........................................................................................................................32 Yahk GBPU ..........................................................................................................................32 South Selkirk GBPU ...........................................................................................................33 South/Central Purcell GBPU .............................................................................................34 Kettle-Granby GBPU ..........................................................................................................34 B.C.’s Southern Interior ..........................................................................................................35 Ghost Populations in the B.C. Interior .............................................................................35 Download related David North Cascades GBPU .......................................................................................................36 Suzuki Foundation reports at Blackwater-West Chilcotin ...............................................................................................37 davidsuzuki.org/publications B.C.’s Southern Coast Mountains .........................................................................................37 Southern Chilcotin Ranges GBPU ....................................................................................38 Stein-Nahatlatch GBPU .....................................................................................................39 Squamish-Lillooet GBPU ..................................................................................................39 Garibaldi-Pitt GBPU............................................................................................................40 Beyond B.C.’s Borders ...........................................................................................................41 APPENDIX 2: GRIZZLY BEAR BASICS ............................................................................42 Human-Caused Grizzly Bear Mortality ................................................................................43 Habitat Fragmentation ..........................................................................................................44 The Trouble with Roads..........................................................................................................45 Grizzly Bears Need Habitat Security....................................................................................46 How Many is Enough? ..........................................................................................................47 DISCLAIMER Every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this study has been taken, however, the project was limited by the information and data that was available. We welcome suggestions for improvements that can be incorporated into later editions. APPENDIX 1: B.C.’s THREATENED GRIZZLY BEARS ........................................................31 Southeast B.C. ........................................................................................................................32 Yahk GBPU ..........................................................................................................................32 South Selkirk GBPU ...........................................................................................................33 South/Central Purcell GBPU .............................................................................................34 Kettle-Granby GBPU ..........................................................................................................34 B.C.’s Southern Interior ..........................................................................................................35 Ghost Populations in the B.C. Interior .............................................................................35 North Cascades GBPU .......................................................................................................36 Blackwater-West Chilcotin ...............................................................................................37 B.C.’s Southern Coast Mountains .........................................................................................37 Southern Chilcotin Ranges GBPU ....................................................................................38 Executive Summary Stein-Nahatlatch GBPU .....................................................................................................39 Squamish-Lillooet GBPU ..................................................................................................39 Garibaldi-Pitt GBPU............................................................................................................40 Beyond B.C.’s Borders ...........................................................................................................41 In 1995, THE BRITISH ColUMBIA goVERNMENT JOINED other governments in western North America to protect grizzly bears by releasing A Future for the Grizzly: British Columbia Grizzly Bear Strategy, which APPENDIX 2: GRIZZLY BEAR BASICS ............................................................................42 continues to be B.C.’s primary policy on grizzly bear management. B.C.’s grizzly bear conservation strategy Human-Caused Grizzly Bear Mortality ................................................................................43 recognized that grizzlies, like so much of North America’s original wildlife and wilderness, “were disap- pearing.” Then as now, British Columbia boasted approximately half of all Canada’s grizzly bears, but the Habitat Fragmentation ..........................................................................................................44 grizzly bear strategy warned that the province’s grizzly bears and the habitat on which they depend were The Trouble with Roads..........................................................................................................45 threatened by increasing human populations and growing demands for land and other natural resources. Grizzly Bears Need Habitat Security....................................................................................46