Monday, December 18, 2017 — Government announces a full and total ban on the grizzly bear trophy hunt, the hunting for meat loophole is closed. For over two decades, Pacific Wild and countless others have worked to stop the grizzly bear trophy hunt in British Columbia. “This is a major victory for B.C. grizzly bears. Because you took the time to voice your support for a total and complete ban on the grizzly bear trophy hunt the B.C. government listened,” says Ian McAllister, Executive Director at Pacific Wild. “We can now enter 2018 knowing that no grizzly bears will be legally killed not just in the Great Bear Rainforest but all across British Columbia.” This announcement comes four months after the NDP government announced the new ban on trophy hunting on August 14th, that still allowed bears in British Columbia to be hunted via a loophole that authorized hunters to claim them as food. It also comes after the 2017 fall hunt, claiming the lives of hundreds of bears. The combined pressure of hunting, habitat fragmentation, urbanization and other human-caused disturbance has already removed grizzly bears from considerable portions of their traditional habitat in British Columbia. The majority of First Nations, B.C. residents and tourists have long made their opinions clear – they would rather see bear populations thrive, and have people shoot them with cameras rather than guns. The case against hunting grizzly bears has been strong and the movement has finally been won.