From 1949 to 1960 the barren-ground grizzly bear was totally protected in the Northwest Territories of Canada, with the result that numbers increased and so did their range. But pressure from trappers led in 1960 to an amendment legalising die killing of grizzlies in defence of life or property, and in 1964, despite the views of wildlife biologists and organisations, another amendment deprived the bears of all protection from licensed native hunters. The author, who is Research Supervisor of the Eastern Region, Canadian Wildlife Service, and has visited the Canadian Arctic almost every year since 1949, points out that the grizzly bear population there is now so low that a relatively small amount of hunting could reduce the breeding population and lead to the extinction of this magnificent animal.