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.
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Skin of a young polar bear shot near Scoresby
Sound in earstern Greenland. |
