The polar bears are on literally thin ice

[Animal 0]

Jan 1, 2007

The polar bears are on literally thin ice

News of a U.S. government proposal to list polar bears as a threatened
species has evoked alarm within Nunavut's government. Unfortunately, the
alarm is not over the growing evidence of the threat to the majestic beasts'
survival caused by destruction of their habitat, but over the impact the
U.S. measure could have on the territory's sport hunting industry.

Scientists have warned for some time of the possible effects of climate
change on polar bear populations. Yet, regardless, Nunavut's government two
years ago irresponsibly hiked the quota for bear kills by 28.5 per cent,
based in part on the highly tenuous notion of "traditional knowledge" -- the
politically correct concept that sightings by Inuit hunters somehow reflect
the true status of bear populations.

In fact, scientists have produced compelling evidence that the reason Inuit
hunters are seeing more polar bears is not that there are more polar bears
-- which is the simplistic explanation factored into the increased bear-kill
quota -- but that the bears are hungry and are foraging for food close to
human settlements.

Faced with the mounting scientific findings, the territory re-examined the
quotas -- but then, last May, produced a report that said climate change is
not pushing polar bears to extinction, and that if it were doing so all
species around the world would be threatened. Besides, "polar bears are
intelligent and quick to adapt to new circumstances." For its part, the
Canadian government considers the polar bear a species of special concern,
"one that is particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events,"
yet it remains the position of Environment Canada that they are "not
endangered or threatened."

The bureaucrats either have not been reading or are ignoring the work of
scientists, including some of their own, who argue there is strong evidence
that climate change is causing declines in both the thickness of sea ice and
total cover, with the result that sea ice is breaking up earlier --
affecting polar bears, which are floe edge hunters.

One study published in September in the scholarly journal Arctic (with
Canadian Wildlife Service researcher Ian Stirling as lead author) argued
that "at least part of the explanation for the appearance of more bears near
coastal communities and hunting camps is likely that they are searching for
alternative food sources in years when their stored body fat depots may be
depleted." The study observed that, based on projections of warming, polar
bears will likely become "increasingly food-stressed, and their numbers are
likely to decline eventually, probably significantly so." It urges that a
"precautionary approach be taken to the harvesting of polar bears and that
the potential effects of climate warming be incorporated into the planning
for the management and conservation of this species."

As a result of similar warnings, the International Conservation Union in May
gave polar bears threatened status on its "red list," and projected a
decline of population numbers of 30 per cent by 2050, mainly as a result of
loss of sea ice. Then, on Wednesday, the Bush administration said the United
States is considering listing the species as "threatened" under its
Endangered Species Act. The U.S. has long led efforts to conserve polar bear
populations, halting all sport hunting in 1972.

Nunavut's response to the latest U.S. announcement was to express concern
that the "threatened" status, if adopted, might harm the territory's
lucrative polar bear hunt if American big-game hunters couldn't return home
with their costly trophies. "We are disappointed," Steve Pinksen, director
of policy, planning and legislation for Nunavut's Environment Department,
told the CBC. "It has a potential for impacts directly upon our economy,
particularly in the smaller communities, and that's always a concern, so we
certainly are a little bothered by the situation."

The concern over the economic losses for marginal communities in Nunavut is
understandable. The Inuit play a crucial role in the species' survival, and
economic spinoffs from the sport hunt may provide an important incentive for
conservation. But if the scientists' warnings are correct, there is an
overriding concern for the future of the polar bear. Given the evidence, it
is high time the governments of Nunavut and Canada demonstrated that they
are also "a little bothered" about that.

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