Stopping the grizzly hunt

Help us end the trophy killing of large carnivores in the Great Bear Rainforest – now and forever.

Every year in BC a staggering number of bears, wolves, and other large carnivores are killed by hunters for trophies on their walls and floors. For two decades we have worked to end this senseless slaughter. In 2005, we began purchasing commercial trophy hunting tenures. By 2020, we have ended commercial trophy hunting in more than 35,000 square kilometres of the BC coast.  Our goal is to acquire all remaining tenures in the Great Bear Rainforest working in partnership with First Nations.

Economics of the grizzly hunt

Our economic report Crossroads: Economics, Policy, and the Future of Grizzly Bears in BC (PDF) showed that by 2003, grizzly bear viewing was already generating twice the annual revenue of all the guide outfitting associated with the grizzly hunt.  As part of the Crossroads strategy, we collaborated with coastal eco-tourism businesses to establish the Commercial Bear Viewing Association of BC.

The 2014 study, Economic Impact of Bear Viewing and Bear Hunting in the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia (PDF),¹ undertaken by the Centre for Responsible Travel (CREST) found that revenue from bear viewing far outstripped revenue from the grizzly hunt.

Access to provincial kill data

In 2000, Raincoast filed a Freedom of Information request with the province of BC to get the grizzly kill data (we wanted numbers, location and sex). The ministry refused to provide it.  For five years Raincoast argued in the courts, and at every step, the ruling was in Raincoast’s favour, first by the Information and Privacy Commissioner, then by the Supreme Court of BC, then the Appeals Court of BC, then back to the Information and Privacy Commissioner to get the data in electronic format.

Buying hunting territories

In 2001, Raincoast achieved a three-year moratorium on the provincial grizzly hunt, only to have it overturned when the Liberal government came to power later in the year. Clearly, we needed a different strategy.

As the only permanent solution to stopping the trophy hunt appeared to be literally buying out hunting licenses, Raincoast and its supporters began purchasing hunting rights in 2005.  This initiative has saved dozens of grizzlies, black bears and wolves who would have been killed in the commercial trophy hunt.

Watch The Price of the Prize, the CBC documentary that describes our work to end the grizzly hunt.

Read more about our purchase of commercial hunting rights →

You can help

Raincoast’s in-house scientists, collaborating graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors make us unique among conservation groups. We work with First Nations, academic institutions, government, and other NGOs to build support and inform decisions that protect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and the wildlife that depend on them. We conduct ethically applied, process-oriented, and hypothesis-driven research that has immediate and relevant utility for conservation deliberations and the collective body of scientific knowledge.

We investigate to understand coastal species and processes. We inform by bringing science to decision-makers and communities. We inspire action to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats.