By
Holly Foat, resident zoologist at responsibletravel.com
Polar bears are commonly used by the media to illustrate the effect of climate change in polar regions but we ask is the biggest threat to polar bears really climate change or the hunters? The iconic polar bear is rapidly becoming the furry face of the effects of climate change. This species has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN red list since 2006 and was "believed to be threatened" since 1965, but recently made the news when it was announced that polar bears were under consideration to be added to the US endangered species list.
However, a new debate has started to rage on the issue of climate change and its effects on polar bears. Bjorn Lomborg in his new book ‘cool it’ has questioned the legitimacy of the research on climate change and its effects on polar bears.
Instead he calls for the money spent on climate change mitigation to be spent on human life saving projects such as fighting HIV/AIDS. He not only refutes the statistics that polar bear numbers are decreasing but insists that hunting is more of a threat to polar bears than climate change is.
Research funded by WWF found that due to global warming, sea ice in the Arctic is melting earlier and forming later each year leaving polar bears with less time on the ice to hunt for food and build up their fat stores. This lack of food is a direct threat to their survival.
Although Lomborg’s opinion is questionable he has highlighted the problem of hunting. Current research indicates that polar bears are at risk from a combination of climate change, pollution and hunting. Recently Canada has increased its hunting allowance to over 500 polar bears a year, many of which are for trophy hunting by tourists.
Polar bear hunting is regulated by the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears (the Oslo Agreement) with only local people (mostly Inuit) allowed to hunt by traditional methods but trophy hunting is permitted in some areas such as Canada and Greenland.
The impact from hunting when added to the increasing threat of climate change (some research shows reduced survival rates of cubs and smaller adult polar bears in recent years) means that polar bears are becoming increasingly vulnerable.
Statistics from zoos show that polar bears do not fare well in captive conditions. Polar bears do not breed well in captivity and survival rates of adults are very low which means that reintroduction projects, captive breeding programmes and any ark like ideas are not feasible. The only way to save polar bears is to both reduce the effects of climate change (which threatens many other species including human populations) and to stop hunting.
What you can do 1. Join the fight against climate change by reducing your carbon footprint and
reduce your carbon emissions 2. Tell the US government to include Polar Bears as an endangered species
3. Show that polar bears are worth more alive than dead and take a
polar bear watching holiday If you want to actively help why not try
conservation volunteering or
wildlife volunteering? Or show your support to conservation projects by taking a
wildlife holiday? All our holidays are run to minimise impacts on the environment, benefit local people or to support the community.
Want to see bears in the wild? Then take a look at all our
bear watching holidays 
