Investigation underway after bear-baiter found

By Laura Stone, The Province-June 13, 2009

Fish heads and guts were among the bait that conservationists claim was used to lure Grizzly bears to be shot in a Bella Bella conservancy area Thursday night.

Ian McAllister, a conservation director for Pacific Wild, says an RCMP investigation is underway after Eric Boyum, owner of the bear-viewing company Ocean Adventures, discovered a man illegally practicing "bear baiting."

The man has not been caught, he said.

"To find a trophy hunter hiding in the woods baiting bears is a huge conflict with the sustainable tourism that is being promoted in the Great Bear Rainforest," said McAllister.

Bear hunting is a legal practice in about 80 per cent of protected areas and parks in B.C. It is estimated that when the season closes on June 15, between 100 and 150 Grizzly bears will have been killed for sport.

However, bear baiting remains illegal and is punishable by fines and possibly jail time, according to McAllister.

"It's considered 'unfair chase.' It's not considered sporting. It's unethical. It's something that, if it was allowed, it would bring all the bears in from a huge area and they would be killed really indiscriminately," he said.

McAllister added that conservation and animal-welfare groups, as well as First Nations communities, are trying to ban bear hunting on the B.C. coast and Haida Gwaii.

"It's the million-dollar question right now: Why is the government allowing trophy hunting to occur in an area where First Nations don't want it, in direct contrast to the real economy here, which is partially based on wildlife viewing and tourism?"

RCMP couldn't be reached to discuss the details of the investigation.
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