Free Bear-Watching Tours for Hunters Who Put Down Their Guns

Canada’s Coastal First Nations is urging hunters to shoot bears, the only catch is that they can’t use guns, only cameras! A different sort of capture, the Coastal First Nations alliance is trying to get grizzly bear hunters to put down their weapons by giving away free bear-watching tours in the hopes that hunters will learn to enjoy bears in a more peaceful manner.

In an attempt to end the controversial annual grizzly bear hunt, the First Nations are asking hunters to trade in their hunting permits in exchange for the chance to be entered into a raffle. The prize, for the pair of winners, will be an all-expenses-paid bear-watching outing, funded by the First Nations.

Trophy hunting, the practice of killing animals for “non-food” purposes, has drawn a lot of scrutiny across the traditional grizzly hunting territories of British Columbia. As usual in this sort of debate, there are “scientific” grounds for the sustainability of the routine mass slaughter of bears and the actual practice of grizzly bear hunting is banned in the Coastal First Nations territory. The issue of contention is the fact that the provincial government refuses to recognize the ban and the territory does not have the legal force necessary to enforce the ban.

Luckily, this creative approach to deterring hunters from participating in the hunt is actually working. According to Jess Housty, an elected member of the Heiltsuk Tribal Council, there are already hunters, “reaching out to let us know they intend to participate,” surrendering their license and entering their names into the raffle.

The grizzly bear populations in British Columbia are stable, but that is not an open invitation to rush in and hunt!  We commend all the hard work of the Coastal First Nations and the incredible leadership and initiative they have taken to stop this needless slaughter of grizzly bears.

Image source: Servheen Chris/Wikipedia Commons