Conservationists ask the Canadian Government for enough money to monitor the 8 grizzly bears trapped and collared for security reasons at the G8, for the life of their collars...not just until they den up this fall.
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Conservationists demand monitoring for threatened G-8 grizzlies G-8 security forces collar Kananaskis grizzly bears, refuse to follow through with monitoring
Kananaskis Country, Alberta – The Bow Valley Grizzly Bear Alliance is asking the Canadian government to commit more money to monitoring grizzly bears that were collared for security purposes at the Kananaskis G8 Summit. After putting at least eight of Alberta’s “threatened” grizzly bears at risk of injury and death, the federal government refuses to provide enough money to monitor the bears for the life of the collars, an ethical standard most scientists support.
It would cost approximately $250,000 to monitor these bears for the life of the GPS collars that allow security forces to keep tabs on them during the Summit – roughly 0.0005 per cent of the estimated $500 million cost of the G-8 Summit.
“Grizzly Bears go through considerable trauma when trapped and radio collared” says grizzly bear expert Stephen Herrero “ Occasionally they are injured or die. Yet we need data from radio-collared grizzlies to understand how this threatened species is doing. To put radio collars on and not monitor for the life of the collar is ethically wrong and scientifically misguided” says Herrero, a professor of environmental design at the University of Calgary.
The government has committed only enough resources to allow monitoring of these collared bears for six months, until they den up for winter hibernation. “The data obtained from such short-term monitoring is of no significant use whatsoever. These collars will be functional for up to 5 or 6 years and the federal government is obligated to ensure that valuable scientific information is obtained from them” says Tracey Henderson, program director of the Bow Valley Grizzly Bear Alliance.
At least eight grizzly bears in the Kananaskis area were trapped and collared so their movements could be monitored in an effort to minimize potential confrontations with security personnel and G8 delegates. The risks of trapping grizzly bears to fit them with collars was highlighted last week when two sub-adult grizzlies in Banff National Park were killed by another grizzly while they were caught in leg-hold snares set up by Parks researchers.
The Bow Valley Grizzly Bear Alliance wants the federal government to provide enough funding to monitor the G8 collared bears for the life of the collars. “We’re only talking about an additional two to three hundred thousand dollars over a five-year period, which is an insignificant amount given the total budget for the G8 summit,” says Henderson. “It was inappropriate to collar these bears for security reasons, but now that they are collared, the government can ensure that the threatened grizzly bear population in this area benefits in the long term by providing funding for ongoing monitoring of these bears.”
In April of this year, Alberta’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee recommended that the status of the grizzly bear be upgraded from its current status of “may be at risk” to that of a species “threatened with extirpation in the wild.” However, Mike Cardinal, Alberta’s Minister of Sustainable Resource Development, has failed to follow the recommendations of his advisory committee.
For more information or to set up an interview, please call Program Director Tracey Henderson (403.678.8532) or Director Jeff Gailus (403.609.1534).
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