The polar bear has become a threatened species after been listed under the endangered species act (ESA) by the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) on Wednesday 14th May 2008.
Melting sea ice in the Arctic is currently been held responsible for this announcement. There is also growing controversy that oil and gas production threatens the future for polar bears.
The announcement was made by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who wishes to prevent any further losses of polar bears.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne also states that the Interior Department will apply a different set of rules from the currently existing Marine Mammal Protection Act for the polar bear. The new set of rules will be designed to provide greater flexibility for economic development providing the survival of the species is not adversely affected.
The government of the largest and newest territory of Canada, Nanavut, believe the proposed rules may lead to a ban or reduction on the importation of polar bear hides into the USA. Nanavut fear that the economy could suffer, as the annual polar bear hunt can generate as much as $1.5 million US dollars.
The U.S government was forced to make the decision to place the polar bear under the ESA by May 15, after environmental groups sued the George W. Bush administration for failing to meet a January 9th deadline. The administration has been accused of delaying the decision to allow for more Alaskan oil and gas production.
The polar bear becomes the first animal to be protected under the Endangered Species Act as a result of the threat that climate change poses to the Arctic.
Some environmental groups may try to use the classification in a bid to protest against the construction of coal power plants across the world, far away from the Arctic, which are often blamed for contributing to greenhouse gases and climate change.
The placement of the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act has been met with dispute from a number of different parties. M. Reed Hopper of the property-rights group Pacific Legal Foundation disputes the idea that the polar bear is an endangered species. He claims the government has used “speculative computer modelling” to make its decision, and he now has plans to sue the Interior Department. Mr. Reed also stated that “never before has a thriving species been listed under the Environmental Species Act, nor should it be”.
If the Arctic sea ice continues to melt at the current rate, anywhere up to two-thirds of the polar bear population could disappear by 2050, according to studies released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in September 2007.
