Grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park could suffer from inbreeding if a plan to reintroduce grizzlies to neighboring areas north of the park is dropped, say federal biologists. U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton has indicated that she will scrap the plan, which was developed by a local partnership of environmentalists, timber officials, and mill workers. In other grizzly news, the new government in British Colombia lifted a ban yesterday on hunting the bears, even though the ban had widespread public support. Some government scientists say as many as 13,000 grizzlies remain in B.C., while other government scientists and enviros put the number as low as 4,000.
