Bush Environmentalists Allow Killing of Grizzly Bears

Image: Courtesy U.S. Dept. Transportation. (C) Chuck Bartlebaugh

Read "Yellowstone Grizzly Bears to Come Off Endangered Species List" Environment News Service, March 22, 2007.

Lead: "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is removing the Yellowstone population of grizzly bears from its status as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act."

There are now more than 500 grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem; that is a recovery from a population low of 136 in 1975. There are an estimated 1,100 to 1,200 grizzly bears in the continental United States, in five separate populations in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Washington. To my mind those numbers are very low, and the species is still perilously close to extinction in the continental United States, and especially in the Yellowstone ecosystem. This is especially true since the population is located in several non-communicating sites, and has passed through a very narrow genetic bottleneck recently.

The Service is now to manage the grizzlies under a conservation strategy developed by state and federal scientists and managers. "But conservation groups have misgivings about the future of Yellowstone grizzly bears."

Hunting is not permitted in national parks in the United States. However, the Yellowstone ecosystem extends beyond the national park. One assumes that if grizzlies wander off the park and are not protected as endangered species, they will be more vulnerable to hunters and poachers. (I have personally seen a grizzly by the roadside, just outside the national park.)

Click here to read the Fish and Wildlife Service announcement.