Reward offered for info on B.C. grizzly poacher

The Pemberton Wildlife Association is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who has information about the poaching of a grizzly bear in the Pemberton, B.C., area on Nov. 17.

The 317-kilogram, male grizzly was shot and mutilated just off a forest service road. Grizzly bear hunting is illegal in Pemberton because population numbers are extremely low. A suspect has been identified and interviewed, but conservation officers are still looking for witnesses.

Pemberton Wildlife Association president Clarke Gatehouse said the bear that was shot and had parts removed was well-known to local hunters.

"There's not a lot of grizzly bears in this area. The ones we do have, we feel strongly about protecting them and we don't want this to happen again," he said on Tuesday. "We have to do something to make it attractive for anybody with information to come forward."

According to the David Suzuki Foundation, four of the nine threatened grizzly bear populations in B.C. reside near Pemberton. Conservation consultant Jeff Gailus said fewer than 100 grizzly bears live in isolated units around Pemberton, Squamish and Lillooet, making reproduction difficult.

"The fact that a bear is poached is a cause for concern because there aren't very many bears moving back and forth, so it's really critical for bears that are trying to move back and forth in the Pemberton area and Squamish and Lillooet to be able to move without getting killed," he said. "It's hard enough just with the cars on the highways, and the fact that sometimes grizzly bears get into people's garbage and attractants and they meet an untimely death.

"Having poaching being an additional problem is quite concerning."