Norway completes polar bear census

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS

About 3,000 polar bears live around the Arctic Barents Sea off northern Europe, according to figures from the first census of polar bears in the region released last week. That’s about 12 per cent of the total world population of polar bears.

The survey, by Russian, British and Norwegian researchers, showed polar bear numbers in the region were at the low end of previous estimates of 3,000 to 5,000.

Still, “a stock of 3,000 animals is relatively large in biological terms,” the Norwegian Environment Ministry said in a statement.