en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear#Controversy_over_species_protection
The world's largest predator found on land, an adult male weighs around 300-600 kg (660-1320 lb), while an adult female is about half that size.
For decades, unrestricted hunting raised international concern for the future of the species; populations have rebounded after controls and quotas began to take effect. For thousands of years, the polar bear has been a key figure in the material, spiritual, and cultural life of Arctic indigenous peoples, and the hunting of polar bears remains important in their cultures.
It is difficult to estimate a global population of polar bears as much of the range has been poorly studied, but biologists use a working estimate of about 20,000-25,000 polar bears worldwide.
International Agreement for the Conservation of Polar Bears which mandates cooperation on research and conservations efforts throughout the polar bear's range.
Inuit have reported increases in bear sightings around human settlements in recent years, leading to a belief that populations are increasing.
In the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, polar bears retreat to the multi-year ice (that is, ice that remains solid year-round) further north each summer.
Polar bears have evolved unique features for Arctic life, including furred feet that have good traction on ice. Polar bears have evolved unique features for Arctic life, including furred feet that have good traction on ice.
guard hairs of a polar bear coat were once thought to act as fiber-optic tubes to conduct light to its black skin, where it could be absorbed;
swimmers and have been seen in open Arctic waters as far as 60 miles (100 km) from land. Their 12 cm (5 in) layer of fat adds buoyancy and insulates them from the cold.
The long muzzle and neck of the polar bear help it to search in deep holes for seals, while powerful hindquarters enable it to drag massive prey.
For subadult bears which are independent of their mother but have not yet gained enough experience and body size to successfully hunt seals, scavenging the carcasses from other bears' kills is an important source of nutrition. Subadults may also be forced to accept a half-eaten carcass if they kill a seal but cannot defend it from larger polar bears.
During the mating season, actual fighting is intense and often leaves scars or broken teeth. During the mating season, actual fighting is intense and often leaves scars or broken teeth.
Cubs may fall prey to wolves, to adult male polar bears, or to starvation. Female polar bears are noted for both their affection towards their offspring, and their valiance in protecting them.
Bears exposed to oil and petroleum products lose the insulative integrity of their coats, forcing metabolic rates to dramatically increase to maintain body heat in their challenging environment.
citation needed The pollutant effect on the bears' immune systems, however, may end up decreasing their ability to cope with the naturally present immunological threats they encounter, and in such a challenging habitat even minor weaknesses can lead to serious problems and rapid mortality.
Ian Stirling commented, "For many years, the conservation of polar bears was the only subject in the entire Arctic that nations from both sides of the Iron Curtain could agree upon sufficiently to sign an agreement.
The treaty allows hunting "by local people using traditional methods," although this has been liberally interpreted by member nations. Norway is the only country of the five in which all harvest of polar bears is banned. Agreements have been made between countries to co-manage their shared polar bear subpopulations.
Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits the killing of polar bears and the importation of products made from polar bears. In 1994, legislation was modified to allow issuing import permits for sport-hunted polar bear trophies, thereby allowing Americans to bring back trophies from hunting expeditions in Canada.
Canada allocates a certain number of permits each year to sport and subsistence hunting, and those that are not used for sport hunting are re-allocated to native subsistence hunting.
In addition to creating nutritional stress, a warming climate is expected to affect various other aspects of polar bear life: Changes in sea ice affect the ability of pregnant females to build suitable maternity dens.
Mothers and cubs have high nutritional requirements, which may not be met if the seal-hunting season is too short. Mothers and cubs have high nutritional requirements, which may not be met if the seal-hunting season is too short.
The bears would disappear from Europe, Asia, and Alaska, and be depleted from the Arctic archipelago of Canada and areas off the northern Greenland coast.
Adaptation to climate change Predictions vary on the extent to which polar bears could adapt to climate change by switching to terrestrial food sources.
Nunavut Government Manager of Wildlife Research, wrote to the US Fish and Wildlife Service arguing that local studies are insufficient evidence for global protection at this time. The letter stated, "At present, the polar bear is one of the best managed of the large Arctic mammals. If all Arctic nations continue to abide by the terms and intent of the Polar Bear Agreement, the future of polar bears is secure....
IUCN wrote: " Polar bears exhibit low reproductive rates with long generational spans. These factors make facultative adaptation by polar bears to significantly reduced ice coverage scenarios unlikely. Polar bears did adapt to warmer climate periods of the past. Due to their long generation time and the current greater speed of global warming, it seems unlikely that polar bear will be able to adapt to the current warming trend in the Arctic.
DDT and others, have been banned, but their concentrations in polar bear tissues continued to rise for decades after the ban as these chemicals spread upwards on the food pyramid.
The Inuit have many folk tales featuring the bears including legends in which the bears shed their skins to become men and stories of how the constellation which is said to be a great bear surrounded by dogs came into being.
Yupik of eastern Siberia, there was a longstanding shamanistic ritual of "thanksgiving" to the hunted polar bear. After hunting a polar bear, its head and skin were removed and cleaned and traditionally brought into the home, there was a feast in the hunting camp in its honor.
Their distinctive appearance and their association with the Arctic have made polar bears popular icons, especially in those areas where they are native.
Fox's Glacier Mints have featured a polar bear named Peppy as the brand mascot since 1922. In literature Polar bears are also popular in fiction, particularly in books aimed at children or young adults.
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