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http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=6bbad087-272f-4c9e-81db-2c716f879381
U.S. hunters set to shoot grizzlies near Yellowstone
Steven Edwards
CanWest News Service
Friday, September 30, 2005
NEW YORK - Hunters will be able to shoot grizzly bears living around Yellowstone National Park if the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service gets the go-ahead to remove the animals from the endangered species list.
The move is opposed by environmentalists, who fear it could lead to more development bordering the park.
Yellowstone's grizzlies are genetically distinct from Canadian grizzlies. Their numbers started to fall drastically during the 1960s when visitors were allowed to feed bears from their cars. Many of them lost their fear of humans, leading to attacks, which meant the animals had to be destroyed or removed.
About 220 grizzlies were killed in Yellowstone between 1969 and 1971, and only 200 remained when the bears were placed on the endangered list in 1975.
Chris Servheen, a Fish & Wildlife biologist who launched the Grizzly Bear Recovery Program in 1981, says there are now about 600 grizzlies.
"This is one of the biggest success stories under the U.S. Endangered Species Act," he said from his office in Missoula, Mont.
The grizzly delisting plan is accompanied by a proposal to ban road and building construction throughout Yellowstone's 24,000-square-kilometre "core habitat," where 90% of the bears live.
Some environmental groups are not convinced it can be done.
"With bears delisted, there will not be as much control on development, and the reduction of habitat is the biggest threat to the grizzly," said Tom Olenicki, wildlife biologist with Craighead Environment Research Institute in Bozeman, Mont.
States bordering the park have already drawn up proposals for resumed hunting.
U.S. hunters set to shoot grizzlies near Yellowstone
Steven Edwards
CanWest News Service
Friday, September 30, 2005
NEW YORK - Hunters will be able to shoot grizzly bears living around Yellowstone National Park if the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service gets the go-ahead to remove the animals from the endangered species list.
The move is opposed by environmentalists, who fear it could lead to more development bordering the park.
Yellowstone's grizzlies are genetically distinct from Canadian grizzlies. Their numbers started to fall drastically during the 1960s when visitors were allowed to feed bears from their cars. Many of them lost their fear of humans, leading to attacks, which meant the animals had to be destroyed or removed.
About 220 grizzlies were killed in Yellowstone between 1969 and 1971, and only 200 remained when the bears were placed on the endangered list in 1975.
Chris Servheen, a Fish & Wildlife biologist who launched the Grizzly Bear Recovery Program in 1981, says there are now about 600 grizzlies.
"This is one of the biggest success stories under the U.S. Endangered Species Act," he said from his office in Missoula, Mont.
The grizzly delisting plan is accompanied by a proposal to ban road and building construction throughout Yellowstone's 24,000-square-kilometre "core habitat," where 90% of the bears live.
Some environmental groups are not convinced it can be done.
"With bears delisted, there will not be as much control on development, and the reduction of habitat is the biggest threat to the grizzly," said Tom Olenicki, wildlife biologist with Craighead Environment Research Institute in Bozeman, Mont.
States bordering the park have already drawn up proposals for resumed hunting.
