low graphics version | feedback | help
Grizzly invaders killed in Canada
 Salmon are normally a grizzly staple food |
It used to be that you had to book yourself on a wilderness expedition tour if you wanted to see grizzly bears.
But in British Columbia, Canada, they now come to you instead. So close in fact that rangers and villagers in the coastal settlement of Oweekeno have shot a total of six of the huge beasts which were foraging for food between the houses.
Environmentalists raised objections to the latest killing of a mother and two cubs on Wednesday. Experts said the bears were being forced to look for food in towns and villages because there were no more salmon in the rivers for them to eat.
 |
"There's been nothing like this before," local game warden Tom Gottselig said. "There are no fish and a total absence of predator birds like eagles and ravens."
Grizzlies and birds of prey in this region rely on the fish as their main food source.
Salmon count down
The area's recent sockeye salmon run saw only 3,500 fish return from the ocean this year compared with returns of more than three million fish in past years, an environmental group, the David Suzuki Foundation, said.
The Oweekeno community, which has relied on salmon for centuries, has given up fishing this year.
| Grizzly Bear |
 | Ursus Arctos Horibilis - the horrible bear |
| Weight - up to 440 kg (880 lbs) |
| Height - 2 metres standing |
| Found in Alberta, British Colombia, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Alaska |
| Numbers down from 200,000 to less than 25,000 |
Canada's Pacific salmon stocks have dwindled in recent years due to overfishing, environmental changes and the destruction of their river breeding grounds, environmentalists claim.
Wildlife officials acknowledged there was "probably a linkage" between the bears' activities and the low salmon run, but said they had no choice but to shoot the animals because they were posing a threat to humans.
'Vulnerable species'
"The bears were causing a major problem in the village," said Herb Langin, a regional director for the British Columbia Ministry of Environment.
Grizzly bears are listed as a vulnerable species in British Columbia, and the environmental group charged the animals had become the victims of the government's failure to do more to protect the salmon.
 The long wait: Less than two salmon a day is not enough |
He warned that the problem exists all along the British Columbia coast, threatening the ecology and local communities.
Oweekeno game warden Gottselig said: "This is grim news for Oweekeno and I hope that all the people can work together and prevent the catastrophe of extinction.
"Once the salmon are gone, the ancient Oweekeno nation will not be far behind it."
| Search BBC News Online | |
|  Advanced search options | |
| |
 | |
 | |
| |
 | BBC RADIO NEWS |
| |
| |
 | BBC ONE TV NEWS |
| |
| |
| WORLD NEWS SUMMARY |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 | PROGRAMMES GUIDE |
| |
See also: | |
 | |
 | 17 Sep 98 | Americas |
| Grizzly bears being 'hunted to extinction' |
| |
| | Sci/Tech |
| Global warming could starve polar bears |
| |
| |
Internet links: | |
| |
| Environmental Investigation Agency |
| |
| World Wildlife Fund |
| |
| Government of British Columbia |
| |
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites | |
Links to other Americas stories are at the foot of the page.
E-mail this story to a friend
