User:Clayoquot/Polar bear

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See also HTML excerpts: population status reviews and Table 1 summarizing polar bear population status per 2005.

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In the short term, as the sea's multi-year ice is replaced by annual ice, biological productivity may increase in some areas, leading to higher populations of polar bear prey and thus better feeding opportunities for polar bears.

Long-term assessments of population numbers provide only one of several indicators of  whether the species is at risk. Other indicators, such as the body weight of bears adults, cub mortality rates, and are much more readily available and provide earlier warnings

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/27/world/americas/27bears.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/44/2/163

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/polarbears/

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2007/09/24/bear-quota.html

Hunting
Traditional hunting was done with spears.

In the 17th century, non-natives began to dramatically step up the harvest of polar bears. In the first half of the 20th century, mechanized and overpoweringly efficient methods of hunting and trapping came into use. Polar bears were chased from snowmobiles, icebreakers, and airplanes, a practice described in a New York Times editorial as being "about as sporting as machine gunning a cow."

In 1967, scientists from around the world met to discuss the future of the polar bear. Russia and Norway opted to end polar bear hunting entirely, and the United States and Denmark limited killing of bears to subsistence hunters. In Canada, because it was felt that polar bear populations were not in danger, and because polar bear hunting is an important part of Inuit culture, management by a quota system was decided upon. Under the quota, residents of settlements in areas where polar bears have been traditionally hunted may kill a total of approximately 600 bears per year.

To ensure the continued effectiveness of the quota system, polar bear research is carried out in the NWT by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Canadian Wildlife Service. Studies to identify population boundaries and to determine abundance and sustainable harvest of polar bears are done annually through tagging programs. Aboriginal hunters turn in the jaws of killed polar bears to Renewable Resource Officers so that biologists can age the bears and learn more about the status of populations.

Since 1970, communities may decide to allocate some tags from their annual quota to sport hunters. Sport hunters pay a substantial fee for the opportunity to hunt a polar bear. This fee is distributed between the booking agent, the local Hunters' and Trappers' Association, the Inuit guide and helpers who assist with the hunt. In addition, the sport hunters bring additional income to local businesses and individuals through purchases they make while in the community.