Mike Smyth Column: Election Showdown looms over BC Grizzly Hunting Oct 23, 2016
A report by two out-of-province scientists say the grizzly hunt in B.C. is sustainable and that the bear population is being well managed. But an overwhelming majority in B.C want to see the hunt banned. Jonathan Hayward / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Mike Smyth: Election showdown looms over B.C. grizzly bear hunting
Three years ago, Vancouver art collector Michael Audain was sitting on a log in the rain in the Great Bear Rainforest when something magical happened.
A mother grizzly bear and her three cubs walked by, on their way to feast on spawning salmon in a nearby river.
“She must have known we were there, but she was completely calm and didn’t show the slightest interest in us,” said Audain, the wealthy chairman of Polygon Homes.
“She just ambled slowly by and it was amazingly close — 15 to 20 feet away. It moved me so much I thought, ‘I have to look into this. Maybe there’s something I can do to help safeguard these wonderful creatures. ’ It changed my life.”
Read More »Mike Smyth Column: Election Showdown looms over BC Grizzly Hunting Oct 23, 2016