First Public Meeting on Grizzly Trophy Hunting Plans

CASPER, WY -- The Wyoming Game and Fish Department tonight will host the first in a series of public meetings to gather comments on the state’s proposed grizzly bear trophy hunt. The proposal will allow the killing of twenty-four grizzly bears, including slow-reproducing females. The hunt would begin the first day of September, just as bears are trying to fatten up to survive the hibernation period. Females are especially vulnerable as they need extra calories to be able to give birth and sustain cubs during hibernation.

In advance of the meeting, Bonnie Rice of the Sierra Club’s Greater Yellowstone campaign, released the following statement:

"Wyoming’s grizzly hunt proposal is extreme and irresponsible.  It allows dozens of treasured grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region to be killed. Bears will be vulnerable as soon as they step out of national park boundaries. The future of grizzly bear protections is still being decided in the courts, but Wyoming is already rushing for a hunt of this breathtaking animal for nothing more than a trophy on the wall.

“Trophy hunting the iconic grizzly would be short-sighted and wrong. Because bears reproduce so slowly, killing bears--particularly females--can have a profound and rapid impact on the overall population. This region must exercise the utmost caution in managing bears to ensure their continued recovery. However, Wyoming’s aggressive proposal does the opposite of that-- designed to reduce the grizzly bear population and severely limit their distribution.

“Wyoming should focus on continued recovery of grizzly bears, preventing conflicts and promoting coexistence and safety for people and bears. Wyoming’s extreme proposal will set back over forty years of grizzly recovery efforts.Grizzly bear management needs to focus on long-term recovery and this trophy hunt proposal is the antithesis of that.”