To the editor;
I am wondering if we truly live in a democratic society. Statistics say that a majority of British Columbians want to see an end to the grizzly bear trophy hunt, however, our government continues to license it, calling it ‘sustainable’ and ‘responsible’. Grizzly bears are an endangered species – their range has shrunk to a third of what it once was due to habitat loss and hunting, and their once large numbers are dwindling.
The government’s stated population numbers have recently been challenged by a group of university researchers which shows that they don’t really know how many bears there are. At the rate our own species is progressing, it’s quite unlikely that in the future we will have any number of these bears at all! Perhaps we’ll have to change the name of the Great Bear Rainforest to something else.
Trophy hunting of any kind is a reprehensible ideology in my mind. And apparently many of you agree. So if people like you and me want an end to the grizzly bear trophy hunt, we are going to have to bring it by way of our voices loud and clear because at this point, our government is still not listening.
Jacqueline Hohmann
Surrey