Warning: This video and story contain graphic content that may be distressing to some readers.
A video showing hunters killing a grizzly bear has gone viral after being published by a B.C. wildlife activist group earlier this week.
The Wildlife Defence League says it aims to end the practice of trophy hunting, where animals are not killed for food but simply for sport and trophies, and is using the video to highlight their cause.
In the video posted to the group's Facebook page, a grizzly bear can be seen on a mountainside before hunters shoot it. Several more shots are fired at the animal as it attempts to flee.
The video has been viewed 1.5 million times and shared 28,235 times as of Thursday morning.
Wounded and covered in blood, the bear tumbles down the rocky incline, as the hunters joke about the scenario.
When the bear’s body comes to a rest after falling down part of the mountain, one man jokes to another that it will mean less distance for them to carry the carcass.
It is unclear where or when the video was recorded.
By Thursday morning, the video had been viewed more than 1.5 million times, garnering thousands of comments on the group’s Facebook page.
The Wilderness Committee, a national non-profit animals' protection group, says although the video may be hard to watch, it encourages discussion on the issue of trophy hunting.
"Three hundred grizzly bears are shot every year, most of them for fun like in that video, and I don’t believe that’s what British Columbians are about," said Joe Foy, the national campaign director for the group.
Despite the criticism the video has generated from animal lovers, the provincial ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations says grizzly hunting is supported by science.
"The government allows a grizzly bear harvest based on the best available science," Minister Steve Thomson said in a statement to CTV News. "The principles behind our decisions are: a reliable population estimate; estimates of sustainable human-caused mortality rates; and deliberately conservative mortality limits."
However, Thomson acknowledged the scenario in the video does not reflect the values or practice of responsible hunting.
With a report from CTV Vancouver
