David and Bonita Hodgkinson played a significant part in the early development of the Fintry heritage site. At that time, they were the owners and operators of Rapid Printing in Kelowna. All the printing needs that we had were taken care of, and helpful advice given where it was so often needed.
Sadly, David has now passed away. However, with the agreement of Bonita and her two sons, Ryan and Tyler, David's prized grizzly bear rug now joins the collection at Fintry in his memory. As readers will know, the Trophy Room is home to the full mount of the Kodiak bear that James Dun-Waters collected back in the early 1920's. Very few museums include this species in their collections, and this one has spent its entire taxidermied life here in the Okanagan.
The Kodiak is one of a number of brown bear sub-species that range, or have ranged from Mexico to Wester Europe, but everywhere are having to fight for survival.
The grizzly bear still inhabits the Okanagan valley, and may even be on the increase, as attitudes and conservation ensures change and take effect.
It has been pointed out that the name 'Kelowna' is derived from the Sylix name for the grizzly. A metal sculpture of the bear can be seen at the El Dorado Hotel in Kelowna where the story of how the name came to be used is told. Scientifically designated Ursus arctos horribilis to distinguish it from other North American brown bears, the grizzly can be regarded as the most impressive wildlife species in this province.
They used to range far more widely in western North America, from Mexico northward to Alaska. The only Californian ones now are to be found on the state flag. Surprisingly, there is a population still extant in the Gobi desert of Mongolia, that was not discovered and documented until the 1940's.They are a separated population now, and are considered to be rare and endangered by the Mongolian and Chinese authorities who control their homeland. The Mongolians have conducted surveys and have also set up remote feeding stations to assist the bears through times of stress.
There are rumours of a group of very large bears in the Kamchatka peninsula that are even larger that the Kodiak. In the 1950's the renowned Swedish biologist, Sten Bregman saw a skin and skull that he said was larger than anything he had ever seen, and measured some huge tracks. Sadly, politics prevents any further research on that topic now.
The "Hodgkinson Bear" now at Fintry come with all the relevant permit papers and photographic documentation as to when and where it was collected, so adds to the known inventory of BC grizzly specimens, information that is so often lost when such items change hands. We appreciate to generous gift of this rug as we plan to make a special feature of bears at our Fintry Fair day on August 17th.
Article originally published in the: February 2025 Octagon Edition
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