Foreign big-game hunters will be banished from a vast area of western Canada's wilderness, local environmentalists said, announcing an unusual purchase of a commercial hunting license.
The Raincoast Conservation Foundation privately raised C$1.35 million (US$1.17 million) to buy one of North Americas largest guide outfitters, Bella Coola Outfitters Co, said Chris Genovali of Raincoast.
"We bought exclusive rights for the commercial trophy hunting of a wide range of species in perpetuity," Genovali said.
The license covers a vast area of 20,000km2 on the central coast of British Columbia.
Wild creatures who live there include carnivores such as grizzly and black bears, a mutant white bear that native groups call the spirit bear, wolves and cougars. There are also thousands of ungulates, including mountain goats, moose and deer.
From now on, the company will focus on eco-tourism, arranging travel packages for tourists who wish to watch and photograph bears and other animals, Genovali said.
Six aboriginal groups supported the purchase, appearing with Raincoast spokespersons at a news conference on Tuesday.
Genovali said it was largely because of the commercial grizzly bear hunt, which brought foreign tourists to bag trophies, that Raincoast decided to buy an out-fitter.
"Grizzlies are the slowest-reproducing mammal on the continent," Genovali said. "The impact of trophy hunting and overkill can be significant."
The hunt has long been contentious, with threatened boycotts by international tourist groups, a ban on imported grizzly bear parts by the EU and efforts by conservationists to stop sport hunting.
To keep a commercial license, guide outfitters have to continue to use it.
"We will do what we have to do to maintain our license in good stead," Genovali said. "If that means hunting ungulates, for instance, we will do it. But we will not be hunting large carnivores."
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