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| Traditional art in Vancouver, British Columbia |
On December 8th and 9th, I had the opportunity to travel to British Columbia to attend the International Wildlife Management Symposium held by The Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia. There was a great line-up of presenters from all over Canada, the United States and beyond! I met with hunters and wildlife biologists from several Canadian provinces, US states, Kyrgyzstan, Zimbabwe, Norway and many others. The underlying theme of the symposium was comparing The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation to other systems in the world today. The system of conservation forward-thinking people created over 100 years ago has been deemed the greatest natural resources success stories in human history. Through wise-use of natural resources, particularly regulated hunting of wildlife, managers have saved dozens of species from certain extinction.
Ron Thomson, a noted Game Ranger from the former colony of Rhodesia was in attendance to speak about the practicality of managing sub-populations of a species independently rather than at the collective species level. Other presentations covered sustainable-use and science-based management of a great variety of species including seals, polar bear, grizzly, the famed Porcupine Caribou Herd, elephants and more! We heard from wildlife biologists, First Nations representatives, economists and others to learn how we might tackle impending wildlife conservation issues in the future.
The keynote speaker was none other than the renowned Shane Mahoney. Keep an eye out for a Proceedings document from the Symposium as well as videos of the wonderfully informative presentations!
HERE ARE SOME MORE PHOTOS FROM MY TRIP TO CANADA
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| Harbor from my hotel window |
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| Mayo for my fries! |
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| Prominant Wildlife Conservationists and other folks were out in full force! |
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| The organization I represent for work (Safari Club International Foundation) was a sponsor of the event. |
