A former hunting guide who helped kill 13 grizzly bears in a single season has spoken of his guilt and is now working to protect the species in Canada's Yukon region.
Phil Timpany spent years tracking bears for trophy hunters. He opened up about his past and his current efforts in the BBC series The Wilderness, presented by adventurer and journalist Simon Reeve.
A Debt to Pay
Phil described his change of heart as paying off a debt. "I have a history of having people pay me to kill wildlife. So I'm paying off a debt. I've skinned a lot of bears - way more than I feel comfortable with," he said.
Recalling his time as a guide, he said: "We would look for and hunt down grizzly bears with high powered rifles. It's called trophy hunting. One fall, we killed 13 grizzly bears."
He described how trophy hunters would treat the animals after a kill: "The first thing a trophy hunter does when the guide claims that the bear is yours. The first thing they do is kick the bear - every one of them. The other thing is they all curse it. Most of the hunters I brought to bears most would say something similar to 'I killed you you son of a bitch.'"
Changing Ways
Phil said he quit guiding because it no longer felt right. "Most people would identify trophy hunting as a sport - I wouldn't do that because one of them doesn't even know there's a game going on. I had to quit that because it didn't feel right, and I didn't feel very good about myself," he explained.
Now he knows the bears by name and greets them when he encounters them. "If we encounter a bear here I'm pretty sure I'll know who it is and they'll know who I am. Whenever I meet a bear, I say hi, whoever it is, how's it going," he said.
Disappearing Salmon
The Yukon, usually rich feeding grounds for grizzlies, has seen a collapse in salmon runs, leaving bears with less food. Phil said the problem is overfishing: "Too damn many people catching too damn many fish in the Yukon river."
He added: "As far as I'm concerned this is the worst example of salmon management in the world."
Reeve noted that Phil seemed emotional about the situation. During the programme, Phil was in tears because the bears were not coming, according to Reeve. "He's in proper floods of tears because the bears aren't coming," Reeve said.
Phil said his work is not complete. "So this feels like - yeah I'm paying a debt. I feel like that. And I haven't quite accomplished that." He added: "I've done what I could - but where are we going now?"
