Threat to polar bears worries Russian experts – 70 percent decline by 2060
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
August 26, 2010
MOSCOW (IPS/IFEJ) — Environmental experts in Russia have warned that unless urgent steps are taken internationally, climatic changes combined with man-made factors could reduce the world’s population of polar bears by as much as 70 percent by 2060. The polar region — which includes the Arctic Ocean and parts of Alaska, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden — has experienced unpredictable climatic changes over the last few years. As a result, polar bears and their natural habitat are seriously threatened. … Vladimir Tchouprov, a Greenpeace researcher in Russia, said the arctic region is especially vulnerable to the effects of global warming. But he said Russian officials also feel concerned because the U.S. seems to be deviating from a plan worked out by the Moscow office of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). He said the WWF had categorically told the U.S. to impose a moratorium on the hunting of polar bears, since experts believe that poaching and illegal trading have severely reduced the population. Though the plan was worked out in collaboration with experts in other countries, the U.S. still allows indigenous peoples to hunt polar bear. … Another factor threatening the largest predator on earth is the melting ice in the Chukchi Sea which depletes the animal’s main hunting ground. According to Russian scientists, the polar bear population could decrease by 50-70 percent over the next 50 years, unless immediate steps are taken to protect them. …
