Grizzly hunters from EU granted permits to export from B.C. despite ban: report
VANCOUVER — Hunters from the European Union were granted export permits for grizzly bear trophies from British Columbia, even though the EU has banned the import of the items, a new report concludes.
The report reviewed export permits granted between 2004 and 2015 and found between 25 and 36 hunters from the EU received such permits. The bloc suspended the importation of grizzly trophies from B.C. in 2004.
While the fate of most of these trophies is unknown, records from Germany and Denmark indicate that some hunters tried unsuccessfully to import B.C. trophies, wrote author Jeff Gailus in the report commissioned by the David Suzuki Foundation.
Further research is needed to determine whether the remaining grizzly trophies were left in B.C. or in the United States, or if they were unlawfully transported into the European Union, he added.