The hunting of polar bears

There are estimated to be at least 22,000 polar bears worldwide living in 20 discreet populations.

The general status of polar bears is currently stable, though there are differences between the populations. Some are stable, some seem to be increasing, and some are decreasing due to various pressures. The status of some populations is not well documented.

Polar bears are on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and are currently classified as Lower Risk/Conservation Dependent on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Individual countries with polar bear populations also have individual definitions of the population status and management recommendations for their respective populations.

The international Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears allows for the taking of polar bears for use by local people using traditional methods and exercising traditional rights.

Though much traditional hunting by local communities is sustainable, the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG) documents that, both historically and currently, the main threat to polar bears remains over-hunting.

The PBSG regularly reviews the results of the ongoing monitoring of the size, age and gender distributions of polar bear populations provided by the individual countries. For populations with functioning monitoring programs, the PBSG can estimate the status of the population.

Six of the 20 polar bear populations have unknown status. Some of these, for example the Arctic Basin and Queen Elizabeth populations, are in areas with few or no humans and are not hunted. However, in other areas, such as East Greenland, hunting takes place but there are no quota systems in place. The PBSG has expressed concern about this situation, and urges governments to initiate sound monitoring in these areas so that population estimates can be made and trends documented. Only then can the sustainability of hunting be secured.

Today, legal hunting of polar bears by non-native sport hunters is only found in Canada. The community itself decides what proportion of the quota it has been issued will be used for outside sport hunters.

In the areas that lack monitoring, such as Russia, little information is available on current hunting practices. Since it is not known whether killing polar bears is balanced against the sustainable yield of a known population size in such areas, there is reason for concern regarding the sustainability of these practices.