Latest polar bear news
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23 Oct 2009
Alaska critical habitat for polar bears declared
WWF applauds the announcement of the proposed designation of key areas of polar bear habitat across Alaska by the US Department of the Interior. The requirement for the identification of 'critical habitat' was triggered by the listing of polar bears as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act in 2008.
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There are estimated to be at least 22,000 polar bears worldwide living in 20 populations. The general status of polar bears is currently stable, though there are differences between the 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.
The PBSG regularly reviews the results of 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. In Russia, there is almost no public information on hunting practices. The PBSG has expressed concern about this situation, and urges governments to start 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. Inuit communities decide what proportion of the quota they have been issued will be used for outside sport hunters.