Highly publicized grizzly bear attacks have ignited calls to reopen grizzly trophy hunts across Western Canada. The most recent push came from the B.C. Wildlife Federation, a conservation and hunting advocacy organization that called for a hunting season on grizzlies after a bear attacked a group of schoolchildren in Bella Coola, B.C., leaving two people critically injured and two others seriously hurt.

The federation made the call while the circumstances of the attack were still unknown. Conservation officers now believe the attack involved a grizzly sow and her cubs. This does not dismiss or mitigate the traumatic nature of the incident, but it raises questions about why the federation would amplify this call during the early stages of an investigation.

Amid calls for British Columbia to revisit its grizzly hunting ban, Todd Loewen, Alberta’s minister for forestry and parks, has indicated he’s considering lifting his province’s ban in response to a growing number of grizzly attacks.

Alberta banned sport hunting of grizzlies in 2006. A similar ban was imposed in B.C. in 2018, drawing criticism from hunters and support from First Nations and the general public.

In 2024, Loewen introduced a framework allowing grizzlies to be killed by wildlife responders, rather than conservation officers, and some have questioned whether the right grizzly was euthanized in the program’s first kill.

The current debate about hunting grizzlies is being increasingly driven by emotion and political pressure.

Read more: Fierce debate roars to life over grizzly bear hunt

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