Alberta’s grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) were listed as Threatened under the Alberta Wildlife Act in 2010; this listing formalized the status that was long recognized and recommended by several biologists. A draft grizzly bear recovery plan was completed in 2005, sport hunting of grizzly bears was discontinued in 2006, and the recovery plan was accepted by the Minister of Sustainable Resource Development in 2008.

The 2008 Alberta Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan emphasized the need to scientifically determine grizzly bear population size in seven defined Bear Management Areas (BMAs) because it was difficult to accurately assess the status of grizzly bears, identify recovery targets, or define priority areas without a solid understanding of population size. With a population estimate still well below the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s criteria for threatened status, Alberta’s grizzlies remain a species at risk.

In 2020, a revised Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan was put into place. Although the plan’s recommendations are well founded in current grizzly bear biology and habitat science, there are gaps present that need to be addressed.

For instance, the plan includes no population recovery goals for the BMAs or Alberta as a whole. More so, the plan does not address strategies to manage bears outside of "recovery zones" nor does it include social science, Indigenous Knowledge, and associated data that is required to understand the cultural and social implications of grizzly bear recovery more accurately.

The combined impacts of habitat loss, food security and coexistence challenges continue to put enormous pressure on recovering grizzly bear populations. In the midst of climate and biodiversity crises, we cannot afford to fall behind on grizzly bear recovery.

Through storytelling and advocacy, we aim to raise public awareness on the status of grizzlies in Alberta and influence the provincial government to implement their Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan and commit to a continued ban on grizzly bear hunting in the province.

You can take action by writing a letter to your Alberta MLA and the Alberta Minister of Environment and Parks using this simple form letter/email, by donating to EXPOSED, or by sharing our social media content with your friends and family.

Grizzly bears once roamed widely across Alberta and eastward through the plains of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Centuries of habitat loss and persecution by European settlers led to the dramatic decline in the size and distribution of grizzly bear populations across North America. Today, grizzly bears have primarily been extirpated from the prairies, and in Alberta are found solely in the Rocky Mountain and Foothills regions at the province’s western fringe.

With the release of new research in 2020, Alberta now has science-based population estimates for all 7 of the province’s bear management units. The data shows that Alberta’s grizzly bear population has increased from approximately 700 in 2010 to somewhere between 856 and 973 bears today.

This success has resulted from decades of conservation efforts, most notably the government’s decision to end the licensed grizzly bear hunt in 2006. But the road to recovery is far from over and it is plausible that the government may use this data to justify bringing back the hunt.

Grizzly bears are iconic symbols of the wild. They represent an important part of the cultural identity of Albertans.  As a conservation umbrella species, their protection is critical to maintaining the biodiversity of our ecosystems across the wide landscapes they roam.

Please join us as we work to recover Alberta's grizzlies together.