The Alberta government is still sitting on a report updating the number of grizzly bears in the province.

The grizzly bear monitoring report, which is headed by Hinton-based biologist Gordon Stenhouse with the Foothills Research Institute in Hinton, is collecting DNA data from grizzlies across the province.

The contentious report will update Stenhouse’s controversial projections that estimate there are only about 500 grizzly bears left in the province. That number is much lower than the 1,000 grizzly bears the province estimated existed in the province in 2004.

Members of the Willmore Wildlife Area also dispute the projections and launched their own study to counter Stenhouse’s projection. Yet while Stenhouse’s research relies on DNA data, the Willmore study relies on anecdotal sightings.

Stenhouse was head of the provincial grizzly bear recovery team, which was disbanded by Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) minister Ted Morton.

Stenhouse’s previous reports have been used by grizzly bear advocates in the province, who want to see the bear listed as a species at-risk. There are currently between 80 and 100 grizzly bears in Jasper National Park, where the population is considered healthy. However the bears are being affected by residential and industrial developments in other parts of the province, according to Stenhouse.

Stenhouse submitted his report to the province months ago for scrutiny, however the Foothills Research Institute has no idea when it will be released.

When asked about the delay, provincial spokesmen said since the report is scientific in nature, it must undergo scrutiny from the scientific community.

“It’s a scientific paper, and it’s undergoing scrutiny,” said SRD spokesman Darcy Whiteside. “When the reporting is done, it should be released.”

Whiteside said he expects the report could come within the coming weeks.

By collecting hair and scat samples Stenhouse is using DNA information to identify individual bears across the province. The biologist and his team set up barb wire bait traps to attract the grizzly bears without actually trapping them. Hair samples are then collected from the barbed wire, and sent to the lab to identify individual bears.

This data is combined with other information collected from the grizzly bears, such as remote cameras. Stenhouse has been attaching small cameras to the grizzly bears that automatically take a picture every 30 minutes to get a better idea of their travels.