First Nations, B.C. government move to ban black bear hunting in an effort to protect rare spirit bears

The B.C. government has banned the hunting of black bears in the territories of the Kitasoo/Xai’xais and Gitga’at First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest, in response to a joint proposal by the nations to protect one of the rarest bear species on the planet: the spirit bear.

“This is the only part of the world where you’ll likely find a spirit bear,” said Douglas Neasloss, co-ordinator for the Kitasoo/Xai’xais Stewardship Authority (KXSA).

“Anytime someone shoots a black bear, it could be carrying that recessive gene so we wanted to see that hunt over.”