I haven`t hunted for eons, but are some hunters disappointed with the ban extension?
ARTICLE
CALGARY -- Alberta is extending its suspension of the controversial spring grizzly bear hunt into 2009 amid growing evidence that grizzly numbers are significantly lower than earlier estimates.
But Sustainable Resource Development Minister Ted Morton won't order a status review of the grizzly -- which could see the bear listed as a threatened or endangered species -- until a five-year official count is completed next year.
"We'll keep the moratorium in place until we get the numbers in," Morton said in an interview.
An average of 14 Alberta grizzlies were "harvested" yearly until the province halted the hunt for an initial three-year period in 2006 in order to get a handle on how many of the bears still prowled its forests.
'SYMPATHETIC' TO THEIR PLIGHT
Until the entire count is completed, Morton said he would not change the way Alberta classifies and treats its bears, despite being "sympathetic" to their plight.
Before the survey, it was generally believed Alberta had 700 to 1,000 grizzlies. "Obviously, it seems pretty clear that they'll be lower than some of the guesstimates that had been made earlier," Morton conceded.
Gord Stenhouse, chairman of Alberta's grizzly bear recovery team and head of the census, speculated that only about 500 grizzlies remain in the province "and maybe less."
Such dwindling numbers would qualify the Alberta grizzly to be reclassified from its current title as a species "that may be at risk" to "threatened" and perhaps even "endangered" according to international standards.
ARTICLE
CALGARY -- Alberta is extending its suspension of the controversial spring grizzly bear hunt into 2009 amid growing evidence that grizzly numbers are significantly lower than earlier estimates.
But Sustainable Resource Development Minister Ted Morton won't order a status review of the grizzly -- which could see the bear listed as a threatened or endangered species -- until a five-year official count is completed next year.
"We'll keep the moratorium in place until we get the numbers in," Morton said in an interview.
An average of 14 Alberta grizzlies were "harvested" yearly until the province halted the hunt for an initial three-year period in 2006 in order to get a handle on how many of the bears still prowled its forests.
'SYMPATHETIC' TO THEIR PLIGHT
Until the entire count is completed, Morton said he would not change the way Alberta classifies and treats its bears, despite being "sympathetic" to their plight.
Before the survey, it was generally believed Alberta had 700 to 1,000 grizzlies. "Obviously, it seems pretty clear that they'll be lower than some of the guesstimates that had been made earlier," Morton conceded.
Gord Stenhouse, chairman of Alberta's grizzly bear recovery team and head of the census, speculated that only about 500 grizzlies remain in the province "and maybe less."
Such dwindling numbers would qualify the Alberta grizzly to be reclassified from its current title as a species "that may be at risk" to "threatened" and perhaps even "endangered" according to international standards.
