The grizzly bear hunt was wrong, the ban is right

KAMLOOPS — Well, there’s been quite the uproar from a vocal minority over the B.C. government’s decision to ban the hunting of grizzly bears.

Even though other hunting isn’t affected, you’d think those emotional environmentalist city slickers who have no understanding of the laws of nature had just wrenched away the rights of all hunters.

Those who hunt grizzly bears are the true conservationists, they insist. The grizzly-bear population must be controlled for its own good, they say, adding that the NDP are just trying to placate environmentalists over the Site C decision.

Let’s be clear, shall we? Everyday recreational or sustenance hunting, and trophy hunting, are not the same thing. Non-trophy hunting is about killing an animal and taking the meat home to put in a cold-storage locker.

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Trophy hunting is about killing the biggest, strongest, most noble of a species to take home and display above a fireplace mantel or, at a minimum, to have a picture taken with the conquered beast for Facebook.

Grizzlies are hunted for glory, not to put meat in the fridge. An earlier partial ban technically prohibited trophy hunting of grizzlies but allowed hunting them for meat, a sham that let de facto trophy hunting continue.

True hunters know the difference between hunting for meat and hunting for trophies, and it has nothing to do with living in town or country.

The grizzly bear hunt has been an embarrassment to B.C. Despite the loud voices of protest against the ban, most British Columbians are in favour of it.

According to the Liberals, including environment critic Peter Milobar, the killing of grizzlies was based on science. What science? At best, there are only 15,000 grizzlies left in B.C. At worst, as few as 6,000.

Either way, grizzly bear hunting is unsustainable and unacceptable.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.