In fall, when grizzly bears gorge on salmon at the mouth of Knight Inlet, people from around the world sign up for viewing tours with Tide Rip Grizzly Adventures. Provincial guidelines call for a buffer zone of 50 metres for viewing but the animals may venture closer.
Other than a brief moratorium in the spring of 2001, grizzly bears have been hunted in B.C. since before European settlement.
The grizzly bear hunt is controversial, with opponents citing primarily conservation concerns; the province maintains it is the most “rigidly and conservatively controlled hunt in the province.“
In September Globe and Mail photographer John Lehmann captured these images of the bears as they went about their feed..
A female grizzly with her spring cubs.
A bear watcher holds a plaster cast of grizzly bear's paw.
A female bear in Knight Inlet.
Grizzly cubs take time out to play.
Spring cubs feed on salmon.
A female grizzly "speaks" to her spring cub.
Tourist reflected in the water watch the bears as a dead salmon floats by.
A curious spring cub watches the action.
Bear guide Aaron Richards holds one of the many salmon from the inlet.
A grizzly family makes their way across the water.