Opponents of bear hunting in B.C. are getting a major endorsement from an internationally respected environmentalist.
Author and researcher Jane Goodall, renowned for her work with chimpanzees, has joined the fight between sport hunting advocates and conservationists in the province.
In a YouTube campaign in co-ordination with Pacific Wild, a non-profit B.C. conservation group, Goodall calls on the provincial government to ban the sport hunting of bears for good.
Related: Jane Goodall's YouTube video
"This sports hunting is just indiscriminately killing bears that may be part of some big picture in the future of the bear and its survival in Canada," Goodall says in the video.
"I'm very distressed and shocked that the bear hunt, grizzly and black bear hunt, is continuing in a country like Canada."
Supporters of B.C.'s bear hunt say it generates $120 million annually for the provincial economy - and that the hunting industry as a whole generates $350 million.
Scott Ellis, general manager of the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C., says that hunting actually bolsters the bear population.
"We've seen it in many situations, when the hunting pressure increases and they target the specific number of bears it actually boosts the population because there's more cubs," Ellis said. "So you have sows, instead of having one or no cubs they'll have two or three."
The Outfitters Association website says 88 per cent of participants in B.C.'s bear hunt are from abroad. Ellis says the disposable income required for hunting vacations shows the travelers are generally "captains of industry," who stimulate the economy.
Related: The Pacific Wild and Guide Outfitters Association websites
In March, amid pressure from wildlife conservationists, B.C.'s Ministry of Environment announced it was establishing three new areas off-limits to bear hunters - but although hunters are in the woods now, the new regulations don't go into effect until June.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Rob McKee
