MIL/Agencies, May 15, 2008. Author:
May 15, 2008 - The United States has listed the polar bear as a threatened species, concluding that the rapid melting of the sea-ice habitat that the large marine carnivores depend on is undermining their future.
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced the decision yesterday in Washington, marking the first time a U.S. species has been given legal protection because of the effects of global warming.
U.S. scientists believe the ice on which polar bears hunt their main prey - seals - is disappearing so quickly that within 45 years the species is likely to dwindle so much it will be at risk of extinction.
The classification will have ramifications in Canada by blocking the import into the U.S. of bear skins and other body parts from animals killed by U.S. trophy hunters.
It will also put pressure on Ottawa to offer similar protection. Canada currently gives polar bears its lowest level of protection - a designation of being of "special concern," which requires no practical actions to safeguard populations.
Environment Minister John Baird told reporters yesterday that he'll consider tougher action, if a scientific review to be finished by August recommends it.
"We're obviously tremendously concerned about the polar bear. It's a great iconic Canadian beast. Its survival, its ability to thrive is something that's tremendously important to us," he said.
Although the U.S. government now views the species as threatened, the future of the polar bear is likely to be determined in Canada, where about two-thirds of the estimated global population of between 20,000 and 25,000 live, in areas stretching across most of the country's Far North. There are two subpopulations centred in Alaska, numbering about 3,500, but some of these animals also wander into nearby parts of Canada or Russia.
The trophy hunting of polar bears is an important industry in Nunavut, which lobbied against listing the animals to protect the livelihoods of Inuit guides. Although Americans will still be able to kill the bears, for which they can pay up to $40,000, the ban on taking the animal parts home will undermine much of the allure. Sports hunting of polar bears is against the law in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world.
