Fauna Journal Entry
Polar Bear Added to Threatened List (May 26, 2008)
Climate change is hitting polar bears hard. The U.S. recently gave the bears protection under the Endangered Species Act. Canadian Ice Service Environment Canada.
The United States agreed to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The bear is the first animal to officially get government protection due to global climate change.
The bears are in trouble because Arctic sea ice they depend on is melting away. Computer models predict the ice will keep melting in the decades ahead as global temperatures climb. This will make survival more and more challenging for polar bears.
Environmentalists hope the change in the bears' status will protect bear sea ice habitat from oil and gas exploration. It will hopefully keep bears safer on land as well. The new status will also put an end to the sale of bear heads and hides by sport hunters.
Until recently, polar bears spent most of their time on sea ice hunting for seals and other prey. The bears rarely had reason to venture onto the land. But the situation is changing quickly. As sea ice thins and gets less stable, polar bears are spending more and more time on land. They often struggle to find food or keep out of danger from hunters when away from the ice.
The latest surveys counted between 20,000 and 25,000 polar bears in the Arctic in parts of Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland, and Norway.
