Grizzly Bear Problems in British Columbia are Accelerating

Hunting of Ursus Arctos (grizzly bears/brown bears) was banned in British Columbia on December 18, 2017.  At the time, opponents of the hunting ban warned there would be increasing bear/human conflicts. From British Columbia Wildlife Federation executive director Jesse Zeman:

“When the hunt was closed, we predicted that over time human-grizzly conflicts would increase, but we also know that bears that learn bad behaviors teach those same behaviors to their offspring,” said Zeman. “This will keep getting worse until science-based wildlife management is reinstated.”

Over the last ten years, Ursus arctos/human conflicts in British Columbia have doubled, from approximately 300-500 per year before the ban to almost 1,000 per year after the ban. This is the same pattern observed worldwide, as large predator populations are often overprotected.

The populations grow, spread, and come into conflict with humans. The predators have not learned to fear humans because hunting is either banned or severely limited. The aggressive predators are not selected out of the population by hunters. Prior to the attack on a large group of school children in Bella Coola, problems with Ursus arctos (grizzly/brown) bears had been increasing for some time.

Here are examples: From CityNews.ca:

“And what had happened is that a grizzly — it looks like a sow and her two almost full-grown cubs — had gone in and found the fridge and dragged the fridge actually halfway out and across the bed and everything else.”

The animals had completely demolished the kitchen.

“I’m talking counters, cupboards, drawers, glasses, plates, and everything else,” she said.

The couple also has a trailer on the same property, and Munro says the damage there was even worse than in the house.

The Munro couple were extremely careful about not having bear attractants on their property. They had complained to a B.C. official about previous problems. Now they are leaving the area. The BCWF also documents these conflicts:

• A neighbour watching his two young children in the house had a grizzly opened a lever-handle door to enter his garage and cause a ruckus; he was forced to shoot the bear at close range in front of his kids. 
• A disabled, elderly man had his cedar siding and plywood wall ripped apart and building contents ransacked by a bear, despite his installation of steel doors—an (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to prevent the bear from re-entering after it had broken through his regular door. 
• Neighbours had their garage door destroyed by a bear who returned the next night and caused further damage. 
• An elderly woman living alone had a grizzly break into her home, destroy her mudroom, and drag her freezer onto the lawn—all while she was inside.

This pattern is also observed across the United States, Europe, and Japan. Large predators are protected, and hunting is outlawed or severely limited. The large predator population expands beyond wild areas and starts encroaching on rural populations and even some urban areas.

Japan doubled the fatalities by bears in 2025, past the previous record from 6 in 2019 to 13 in 2025. Fatal bear attacks in Europe, especially Romania, have increased with increasing bear populations. Florida had its first recorded fatal black bear attack. Arkansas recorded two fatal black bear attacks in 2025, the first in over a hundred years. California recorded its first-ever fatal black bear attack in 2024. Fatal mountain lion attacks are increasing. Only 9 fatal attacks were recorded before 1970, with 19 recorded from 1971 to 2026. Human wolf conflicts are increasing with the reintroduction of wolf packs into the lower 48 states.

These numbers are fairly small compared to human homicides. The dangers are very low unless you spend time in areas with significant predator populations. Nearly all of these attacks can be prevented if humans take the trouble to arm themselves with modern handguns.

Only one human who fired a handgun in defense against bears has been killed in over 200 recorded incidents. No human who was armed with a firearm has been recorded as killed by a mountain lion. No armed human has been killed by a wolf pack in a recorded incident. Several incidents have been recorded of armed humans stopping attacks by mountain lions and wolves.  Modern cartridge handguns are exceptionally effective in stopping predatory animal attacks.

The people killed and mauled by predatory animals pay a high price for the animal worship currently pushed by deep-green environmental groups and Neo-pagan nature worshipers. The numbers killed and injured are small and self-correcting. As more people are mauled and killed, more people will effectively defend themselves and their property. Those facts will be reported in our disseminated media. The stories are too interesting to dismiss. In the United States, rights protected by the Second Amendment are being restored. As more people arm themselves, more aggressive predators will be killed, and balance will be restored. People who arm themselves in wild areas do much to protect those who use those areas unarmed.  Large predators learn that humans are dangerous and learn to avoid them.

Fellow humans in Canada, Europe, and Japan are not so fortunate. Expect more stories of fatal large predator attacks on humans in those areas.

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.