Controversial grizzly bear hunt begins in B.C.

British Columbia's controversial spring grizzly bearhunt opened Tuesday, with the highest number of tags issued indecades.

The spring hunt runs from April 1 to May 31, with a fall huntbeginning Oct. 1 and continuing into mid-November.

Provincial biologists estimate there are up to 15,000 grizzlybears in the province about a quarter of the North Americanpopulation.

Based on government counts that showed stabilization of grizzlypopulations in areas that were previously overhunted, the governmentreopened several areas to hunting this year.

No one from provincial wildlife management was immediatelyavailable to comment but about 1,800 tags for bear kills are beingissued this year, up from about 1,700 last year.

Biologist Paul Paquet from the RaincoastConservation Foundation says it'sextremely difficult to do a proper count and there could be as fewas 6,000 grizzlies in B.C. -- too few to risk a trophy hunt.