“Vulnerable” polar bears make danger list

Polar bears are among those species threatened by extinction from climate change, unregulated hunting and other human activities, says the World Conservation Union, an international environmental agency.

This week, polar bears joined more than 500 species on its “red list” of endangered species. The last version was released in 2004.

The red list says that ice-dependent polar bear populations will drop more than 30 per cent over the next 45 years if global warming continues to affect the Arctic region.

“Polar bears are set to become one of the most notable casualties of global warming,” says the conservation union. “The impact of climate change is increasingly felt in polar regions, where summer sea ice is expected to decrease by 50 to 100 per cent over the next 50 to 100 years.”

Other threats to the polar bear’s survival include over-harvesting “due to increased quotas or no quotas in Canada and Greenland,” poaching in Chukotka, shipping, and increased oil and gas development.

Previously ranked as a “conservation dependent” species by the red list, the polar bear is now classified as “vulnerable.” A “vulnerable” species is just one step down from the list’s rank of being “endangered,” which means that there is a “high risk of extinction in the wild.”

The red list says beluga are already endangered, and, in some populations, “critically endangered,” which puts them in a much more uncertain state than polar bears.

The red list says many of the 29 recognized stocks of beluga have been “seriously reduced by hunting,” and continue to be hunted even when they are depleted in numbers.

These populations include the belugas of Cook Inlet, Alaska, with about 350 whales; Ungava Bay, with under 50; West Greenland, with about 2,000; and eastern Hudson Bay, with about 1,000.

Nunavut’s Cumberland Sound belugas number only several hundred, but continue to be hunted, the red list notes.

It says that in addition to the threat of over-hunting, the “constant increase in vessel traffic is a concern,” especially in some of the bays and estuaries where belugas gather in the summer and autumn.

Local and regional management bodies exist in Canada, Greenland, and Alaska, notes the red list, “with the expectation that they will ensure the conservation of belugas for the sustainable benefit of maritime aboriginal hunting communities.”

But “their record of accomplishing this mandate is variable.”

Narwhal are on the red list, too, but ranked as “data deficient.” This means that there isn’t enough information on the species, so they aren’t ranked according to their risk of extinction.

The World Conservation Union says more than 16,000 species of animals and plants are at risk of disappearing, including one out of four mammals and one out of eight birds.

The World Conservation Union’s members include 81 governments, more than 850 non-governmental groups and about 10,000 scientists from around the world.

According to information from the group’s Web site, the overall aim of its red list is “to convey the urgency and scale of conservation problems to the public and policy makers.”

Its red list system started in 1963, and is now widely used by government agencies, wildlife departments, conservation-related non-governmental organizations, natural resource planners and educational organizations.

Overall, the World Conservation Union is calling for more efforts to preserve species through reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, stiffer fishing and hunting regulations and other measures.

It says:

* Human activities threaten 99 per cent of red list species;
* Habitat loss and destruction are the main threats, affecting more than 80 per cent of listed birds, mammals and amphibians;
* Climate change is increasingly recognized as a serious threat.