Wildlife experts, advocates criticize lack of transparency in Alberta's new grizzly bear policy

The province is pushing forward with its plan to allow targeted hunts on grizzly bears in Alberta.

Applications are now open to the program but wildlife experts and advocates say the numbers the government is using to dictate the policy around problem grizzlies don't add up.

Nearly two decades after outlawing the hunting of grizzly bears, which have been listed as a threatened species since 2010, the provincial government made changes to the Wildlife Act in June to introduce a program that will allow some hunters to track and kill problem grizzly bears.

According to the forestry and parks minister, there would be a maximum of 15 problem bears killed under the program per year, which Todd Loewen says is less than the number of bears already killed due to negative interactions with humans per year, which he said is around 20.

"I have no idea where the minister got his number," said Marco Festa-Bianchet, head of biology at the University of Sherbrooke and a researcher hired by the province in the past to produce grizzly bear status reports.

His latest report from 2022 is yet to be published but he said it reflects on average around two to three problem grizzly bear deaths per year.

The government's most recent publically available data shows from 2009 and 2018, 25 grizzlies were destroyed because they were deemed problem bears out of a total of 227 grizzly deaths in that time period.

"Let's not forget that these 15 bears would be added to the ones that are killed illegally, that are killed on the road," Festa-Bianchet said.

Other deaths include vehicle strikes, poaching and self-defence, with problem bears making up 12 per cent of grizzly deaths.

CTV News reached out to the ministry several times for clarification on problem bear data but was provided "negative human interaction" grizzly deaths without an explanation of where problem bears fit into that category.

Festa-Bianchet believes the minister is "going really through the backdoor" to introduce a grizzly hunt in Alberta.

"It's a terrible direction. If the minister wants to have a hunt, he should propose a hunt. Look at the numbers, see what’s a sustainable hunt and see what the public thinks about it," he said.

Loewen says the program was prompted by the growing population of bears pushing into new territories in the province, which is resulting in more attacks on people and livestock.

According to the province, there have been 104 grizzly and black bear attacks between 2000 and 2021 with four deaths in the past three years.

In a written statement, the Ministry of Forestry and Parks said the following:

"The safety and protection of Albertans is our highest priority. While negative interactions with humans are rare, they do occur, and we believe that even one mauling is too many. Since 2020, there were over 79 reported negative interactions with grizzly bears, resulting in the deaths of four Albertans. We are also providing more educational resources for Albertans so they are more aware of actions they can take, and things they can avoid, to decrease interactions with wildlife."

The program is also meant to address the increased number of attacks on livestock.

According to the province, between 2023 and 2024, there were 120 head of livestock killed by grizzly and black bears, which amounts to $153,000 in payout claims under a provincial compensation program.

"This change in regulations won't work to reduce conflict," said Sarah Elmeligi, MLA for Banff-Kananaskis and NDP critic for environment and tourism.

"Unless you address conflict at the source, then more grizzly bears will come in."

Elmeligi worked as a professional biologist for two decades and says there are other ways to address conflicts between bears and humans and bears and livestock, such as improved education, fencing and programs to remove carcasses.

"Shooting our way out of wildlife management challenges doesn't actually address the problem. It can exasperate it but it's also a really archaic way of looking at managing wildlife. We know better," she said.

Elmeligi says she's received hundreds of emails and letters from her constituents opposed to or concerned about the program, which she says directly goes against its own recommendations laid out in the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan.

"Programs like this contradict existing government policy and programs. It goes against the science and goes against what will actually work. So it's really, really frustrating to see the minister taking this approach," she said.

To be eligible for the program, a person must be an adult resident of Alberta and hold a recreational hunting licence in accordance with Section 29 of the revised Wildlife Act.

The province is accepting online applications and will make a shortlist of eligible individuals who receive authorization to hunt a grizzly involved in a human-bear conflict or area of concern.

The minister says the decision will still be dictated by Fish and Wildlife officers but will free them up to do other work in the province.

"The last thing we need to be doing is having this mini cartel of hitman hunters out there trying to get a trophy rug for their wall or floor," said John E. Marriott with Exposed Wildlife Conservancy.

"There are problem bears. It does happen and when it does happen, it needs to be highly trained conflict specialists dealing with these bears. We don't need these hunters with basically no training."

Marriott is worried the program is disguised as a hunt and will push back decades of recovery efforts.

"Frankly, I was enraged. Shocked. Really saddened. We're dealing with a threatened species here – a species still in recovery in Alberta," he said.