Polar Bear Subpopulations in Decline

A major new international report said shrinking Arctic sea ice is already taking a toll on polar bears.

The Polar Bear Specialist Group also said that too many bears are being hunted in some parts of the Arctic.

The group is part of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the world's oldest and largest environmental network that advises organizations, governments and the United Nations.

It has issued its latest study of polar bears and their habitat.

Polar bears live in subpopulations, which the PBSG studies as 19 distinct groups within the Arctic region.

According to the latest available data, eight of the 19 subpopulations are declining (up from five in 2005), and three subpopulations are stable. One is currently increasing. For the remaining seven subpopulations available data were insufficient to provide an assessment of current trend.

The total number of polar bears is still thought to be between 20,000 and 25,000.

Since the group's last meeting three years ago, when a decline in polar bear populations was reported, quotas (including quota reductions) for the harvesting of the animals have been implemented in Greenland and Nunavut.

While the group affirmed its support for the rights of aboriginal people to hunt polar bears in habitats that are stable, it said that bear populations in Baffin Bay (bordered by Greenland and Canada) and the Chukchi Sea (between the U.S. and Russia) may be suffering from a combination of overharvesting/illegal hunting and changes in habitat, such as loss of sea ice brought about by global warming. In such cases the PBSG recommended harvest quotas be made more sustainable.

The PBSG also issued resolutions asking Canada to reconsider its decision not to declare the mighty predator an endangered species.

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