Our Threatened Grizzly

Background

Alberta’s grizzly bear population is one of the most threatened in North America. Only 200 years ago an estimated 6000 grizzly bears roamed the lands we now call Alberta. By the early 1900’s, Canada’s prairie population of grizzly bears went extinct with the last members disappearing from Alberta’s Cypress Hills. Near the end of the 1900’s, population estimates hovered between 700-1000 bears. Today the best available science estimates fewer than 700 grizzly remain in Alberta. Twice in the past decade (2002, 2010) these disturbing numbers have prompted Alberta’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee to recommend listing the grizzly as a Threatened species under Alberta’s Wildlife Act, a recommendation the Minister of Sustainable Resource Development has yet to accept.

The primary causes of this decline include increasing rates of human-caused mortality, habitat fragmentation and increasing amounts of human activity (recreation, forestry, oil & gas exploration, development) in prime grizzly bear habitat. In fact, over 90% of known grizzly bear mortalities are caused by humans. Clearly the ability to prevent these mortalities is our hands.

Their Importance

Grizzly bears and their plight are a warning light for the state of Alberta’s natural environment and a symbol of disappearing wilderness. They are at the top of the food chain, their population is sensitive to human activity and development, and they have large home ranges and diverse habitat needs. These traits make them one of the measures of ecosystem health.  As well, they are a surrogate or “umbrella” species by which the impact of human development on other species under that umbrella can be gauged.

By protecting the habitat of such a wide ranging and sensitive species through a two-pronged approach of additional parks and reducing habitat fragmentation in the larger landscape (e.g. closing or minimizing roads and other linear disturbances), the government would protect a host of other plants and animals under the grizzly bear umbrella and also concurrently protect a suite of conservation values, as illustrated in figure 1.

By reducing road densities throughout their habitat, the government would also, for example, be improving the health of the headwaters for the Prairie Provinces and assisting in the recovery of bull trout.

Tracking Alberta’s Grizzly Bear Management

Alberta’s wildlife management and conservation is the responsibility of the Sustainable Resource Development (ASRD) department and its respective Minister, Mel Knight. The 1982 Alberta Fish and Wildlife Policy states the primary consideration of the Government is to ensure that wildlife populations are protected from severe decline and that viable populations are maintained. In 1984, the government set the objective to maintain at least 1000 grizzly bears in the province. In 1990, a comprehensive management plan again declared its principal goal to maintain a viable grizzly bear population. Today, the first line on ASRD’s grizzly bear management webpage reads “The goal of the Alberta government is to ensure grizzly bears survive and thrive on Alberta’s landscapes“.

Despite this, and their objectives to maintain a healthy and viable grizzly bear population, the current government has made no clear commitment to recover the grizzly bear.

In 2002, based on a population estimate of 700 – 1000 bears, the government’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee (ESCC) recommended the grizzly bear be listed as threatened. The ESCC renewed this recommendation again in March 2010 after an updated status report estimated the total grizzly bear population in Alberta to number fewer than 700 bears, fewer than 360 of which are considered mature, breeding individuals. Despite the overwhelming evidence that the grizzly bear is in serious peril, the government has yet to accept that recommendation. Until the grizzly is listed as threatened there will be no formal obligation for the government to recover the grizzly bear, which means any recovery efforts are discretionary. There is no reason to delay listing the grizzly bear, and it is irresponsible to do so.

When dealing with a species at risk, it is the government’s responsibility to act on the precautionary principle. “Erring on the side of caution will help to ensure grizzly bear populations do not become irrevocably small. Recovery actions must not be delayed while data are being acquired and information verified, and expert opinion should be used when data is lacking’” -Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan.

How Alberta determines the status of wildlife:

• Alberta’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee (ESCC) and the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) both use criteria set forth by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• IUCN criteria are based on number of mature breeding individuals in the population.
• IUCN criteria state that if number of mature breeding individuals is less than 1000 population considered “threatened.” If the numbers is less than 250, the population is considered “endangered.”