Wildlife advocates want more polar bear protections

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
POLAR BEAR AK

A United States Fish & Wildlife Service polar bear biologist labels blood samples taken from a bear being examined.
Photo Credit: Karen Rode/USFWS.

New report says threats have increased since bears were listed in 2008

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — While nobody thinks the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can slow or stop global warming, wildlife conservation advocates say the agency must do more to try and save polar bears from extinction.

The great Arctic predators have become a poster child for the impacts of global warming, but five years after they were put on the Endangered Species List, the USFWS has not developed a recovery plan.

According to the Center for Biologicial Diversity, the federal agency also should be considering new scientific evidence that threats to polar bears have increased, warranting a change from “threatened” to “endangered” status. (more…)

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Study: Declining sea ice not good for polar bears

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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A detailed new study shows how declining sea ice affects polar bear migration. Photo courtesy USFWS.

Research may help explain declines in cub production and body condition

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A 10-year study of polar bears around western Hudson Bay offers new clues to how the predators will cope with global warming.

The research, published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Animal Ecology, focused on how sea ice conditions drive polar bears’ annual migration on and off the ice.

Polar bears have adapted to the annual loss of sea ice by migrating onto land each summer. While there, they cannot hunt seals and must rely on fat reserves to see them through until the ice returns.

“The data suggest that in recent years, polar bears are arriving on shore earlier in the summer and leaving later in the autumn,” said Dr. Seth Cherry, of the University of Alberta. “These are precisely the kind of changes one would expect to see as a result of a warming climate and may help explain some other studies that are showing declines in body condition and cub production.” (more…)

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Federal appeals court upholds polar bear protection

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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Polar bears are threatened by global warming and qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Photo courtesy Susanne Miller/USFWS.

Court rejects challenge by Alaska and trophy hunters

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A federal appeals court has rebuffed Alaska’s efforts to weaken polar bear protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Explaining that global warming has already caused reductions in survival and recruitment rates in some regions, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service satisfied its duties under the law and adequately supported it decision to protect polar bears from extinction. Read the decision here.

The agency said the record makes it clear that federal biologists were aware of Alaska’s concerns and addressed them during the listing process. “We find … that under any reasonable reading of the Act, FWS committed no error in its response to the concerns raised by the State of Alaska,” the appeals court wrote in the March 1 ruling. (more…)

Filed under: Arctic, biodiversity, climate and weather, endangered species, Environment, global warming | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Global warming: What are the options for polar bears?

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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Are polar bears on the brink?

“It’s a fact that early sea ice break-up and late ice freeze-up and the overall reduction in ice pack are taking their toll.”

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — Despite reports of increases in isolated polar bear populations, the species as a whole is still imperiled by the rapid, steady rise in Arctic temperatures and shrinking areas of sea ice. Just one unexpected jump in Arctic warming trends could push the predators toward extinction, according to a new warning from a team of scientists led by University of Alberta polar bear researcher professor Andrew Derocher.

The new paper in the journal Conservation Letters is framed as a policy perspective, urging countries with polar bear populations to consider the long-term implications of climate change.

“It’s a fact that early sea ice break-up and late ice freeze-up and the overall reduction in ice pack are taking their toll,” Derocher said. “We want governments to be ready with conservation and management plans for polar bears when a worst case climate change scenario happens.” (more…)

Filed under: Arctic, biodiversity, climate and weather, endangered species, Environment, global warming | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

NAFTA commission to hear polar bear listing dispute

Posted on December 8, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
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Conservation groups are challenging Canada’s decision on polar bear conservation. Photo courtesy USFWS/Scott Schliebe.

Conservation status of polar bears in Canada challenged by petition to international trade group

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — Endangered polar bears are at the center of an an unusual dispute that will be heard by an environmental commission established under NAFTA.

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation announced late last t month that it will consider a petition challenging Canada’s decision to list polar bears as a species of special concern instead of listing them as threatened or endangered. The commission announced the petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity provides sufficient documentation of Canada’s violations of its own laws to warrant an official response from the country’s government. (more…)

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Polar bears: How far can they swim?

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Scientists try to assess potential impact of shrinking sea ice

Some Polar bears in the Arctic can swim in excess of 200 miles, according to USGS research.

Scientists track Polar bears with by attaching GPS equipped collars to a sample population. These collars transmit data that help develop maps like this one that shows a swim of nearly 220 miles long. MAP COURTESY USGS.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Given the steady decline of sea ice in the Arctic and the status of polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, biologists are trying to understand how the top-level predators might respond to those changing conditions.

It’s important because some of the most recent studies link declining sea ice with dropping polar bear survival and reproduction rates in the Southern Beaufort Sea and around Hudson Bay.

“With the sea ice retreating earlier and coming back later, there’s less time for them to hunt in the spring, when put on their fat,” said Alaska-based U.S. Geological Survey researcher Anthony Pagano. “They end up in poor body condition,” Pagano said, adding that some of the studies suggest a downward trend in average body weight. (more…)

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Arctic science probe looking more like witch hunt

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Polar bears in the Arctic. PHOTO COURTESY USGS.

Long-running investigation appears to be heading nowhere

By Summit Violce

SUMMIT COUNTY — Federal investigators last week continued to pursue what looks more and more like a witch hunt against scientists who are researching Arctic ecosystems by interviewing new witnesses.

The investigation, which has changed course and shifted shape several times since 2010, is now looking at data from a long-running bowhead whale survey program, but the main effect has been to leave some federal scientists fearful about potential career risks associated with overseeing Arctic Research projects, according to a whistle-blower protection and watchdog group. (more…)

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Study says toxic levels of PCBs decreasing in polar bears

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Polar bears catch a bit of break, as sampling in one area shows a drop in levels of toxic PCBs. PHOTO COURTESY USGS.

Some good news for a species under pressure

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Norwegian researchers say efforts to reduce the use of toxic PCBs in various products is paying off for polar bears in Svalbard.

Recent tests found that blood levels of PCBs and related contaminants in polar bear cubs appear to have dropped by as much as 59 per cent between 1998 and 2008. At the same time, levels of these contaminants in their mothers were as much as 55 per cent lower over the same period.

The studies were conducted by  the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, who looked at blood samples from mothers and cubs that were collected in 1997 and 1998 and 2008. All told, she had samples from 26 mother bears and 38 cubs from the different time periods. (more…)

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Biodiversity: Canadian polar bear decision challenged

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Canadian government sidesteps polar bear protections. PHOTO COURTESY USGS.

SUMMIT COUNTY —Canada’s recent decision to sidestep meaningful protections for polar bears will be challenged by the U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity. The conservation group is seeking action from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, established under the North American Free Trade Agreement to monitor compliance with environmental laws.

Earlier this month, the Canadian government completed its long-overdue process to assess the status of polar bears under the country’s Species At Risk Act. However, instead of listing the imperiled bears as “threatened” or “endangered,” the government designated the bears only as a “species of special concern,” which affords the bears no substantive protections. (more…)

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Canada sidesteps polar bear protections with listing decision

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Canadian government sidesteps polar bear protections. PHOTO COURTESY USGS.

Species of special concern status doesn’t block hunting or require any critical habitat designations

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Canada, home to about 60 percent of the world’s polar bears, has decided to list the Arctic predator as a species of special concern and will develop a management plan for the bears within three years.

The listing comes under the Species at Risk Act, which is Canada’s version of the Endangered Species Act, but the special concern status doesn’t require the country to take any meaningful steps to protect the bears, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. (more…)

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