Randall Palmer, Reuters 25 Apr 08;
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The polar bear, a symbol of Canada's far north as well as the effects of climate change on the sensitive Arctic environment, is in trouble, but it is not endangered or threatened with extinction, a Canadian advisory panel said on Friday.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada gave the polar bear its weakest classification, that of "special concern", but the Canadian government would nonetheless have to develop a management plan to protect the animals if it agrees with the new label.
"Based on the best available information at hand, there was insufficient reason to think that the polar bear was at imminent risk of extinction," Jeffrey Hutchings, chairman of the independent committee said after the panel met in the Northwest Territories.
"That's not to say that it's not in trouble. A special-concern species is a species at risk in Canada and requires legislative action should the government decide to include this species on the legal list."
Canada has an estimated 15,500 polar bears, or roughly two-thirds of the global population. Disappearing summer sea ice is causing a decline in numbers in some areas but other regions are stable and in some the population is rising.
Hutchings said that in addition to global warming, overhunting and oil and gas activity were also pressuring the population of the world's largest land carnivore.
Environment Minister John Baird, who has three months to decide on a response to the committee's report, said the polar bear was "an iconic symbol of Canada" and that Ottawa should not wait until the animal got a "threatened" designation.
"Let's take action now and that's exactly what we're going to do," he told reporters, standing in front of a stuffed polar bear at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa.
"We don't want to simply wait another five years for another report to say that proactive measures and action is needed. Obviously today's report says we need to do that now."
The stronger "threatened" status, if adopted, would have required prohibitions like bans on hunting and destruction of habitat, but Canada's Arctic Inuit people say restricted hunting should continue.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the polar bear as a threatened species but has declined so far to formally do so. Hutchings said he understood it has postponed its decision till the end of June.
The U.S. Geological Survey said last September that two-thirds of the world's polar bears could be gone by mid-century if predictions of melting sea ice hold true.
The Canadian environmental group David Suzuki Foundation said five of Canada's 13 polar bear populations were thought to be in decline. The western Hudson Bay population declined by 22 percent between 1987 and 2004, it said.
The group called for tougher action to combat global warming in addition to a formal listing under the Species at Risk Act.
(Additional reporting by Louise Egan; editing by Rob Wilson)
Scientists say polar bears at risk, but threat not imminent
Michel Comte, Yahoo News 26 Apr 08;
A scientific panel Friday urged Canada to act to safeguard the Canadian polar bear, which it recommended designating as a species "of special concern" but not one imminently threatened with extinction.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) "has reassessed the polar bear as a species of special concern ... a species at risk in Canada ... (and) in trouble," said panel chairman Jeffrey Hutchings.
"This is a species that is highly sensitive to human activities," he told reporters.
"In some respects, the polar bear is close to meeting some of the criteria (for designation as "threatened") ... in terms of the magnitude of population decline in parts of the bear's range."
But, he added, "Based on the best available information at hand, there was insufficient reason to believe that it is at imminent danger of extinction."
The category for a species "of special concern" is among the lowest in COSEWIC's catalogue of risk assessments with "endangered" topping the list for animals facing imminent extinction.
At its April 20-25 meeting this week in Yellowknife, COSEWIC assessed the status of 31 species, including the polar bear, spotted owl, Western chorus frog and Vancouver Island marmot.
In its assessment, COSEWIC noted that polar bear populations are declining in some areas, are stable in others, but are increasing in some parts. The total population in Canada, where two-thirds of the world's polar bears live, is estimated at 15,500.
The primary threats to the polar bear, said Hutchings, "are over-harvesting in the waters between Baffin Island and Greenland, a decline of summer sea ice in southern parts of its range, and oil and gas development."
But he said the current modeling is unable to determine exactly how much of an impact retreating Arctic ice is having on the bear.
Canada's Environment Minister John Baird now has until November to accept COSEWIC's recommendation for the designation, reject it or ask for a further review.
In a statement, he said he would outline in August how the government will proceed, after receiving COSEWIC's final report.
If he accepts COSEWIC's recommendation, the government must prepare a conservation plan addressing threats to the bear and its habitat.
Canadian environment ministers rejected previous COSEWIC assessments in 1991, 1999 and 2002, citing concerns about insufficient or outdated data, and asked for more research.
Baird said on Friday the government "believes that the polar bear is an iconic symbol of Canada. As such, we also believe we have a responsibility to ensure its population is strong and its future is certain."
"This government cares about the future of the polar bear and as minister of the environment, I am committed to action," he said.
Wednesday, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warned in a new study that Arctic sea ice is melting "significantly faster" than predicted and is approaching a point of no return, with dire consequences for the polar bear.
"Previous models had predicted that melting sea ice would mean some polar bear populations could become extinct by 2050. The new evidence points to even earlier regional extinctions," said Peter Ewins, director of species conservation at WWF-Canada.
In total, COSEWIC assessed 16 animal, bird and plant species on Friday as endangered, four as threatened and four, including the polar bear, as a special concern.
Three species, including the polar bear, a plant and lichen were deemed threatened due to climate change.
The beach pinweed, a plant found in coastal dunes in eastern New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, was said to be at risk from high storm surges.
And the seaside bone, lichen which grows on pines on the southern tip of Vancouver Island in westernmost British Columbia, is threatened by the loss of host trees during winter storms, COSEWIC said.
A higher frequency of storms on both coasts has been linked to global warming.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to make its own recommendation on the polar bear, found in the northwest state of Alaska, in June.
