I recently read some news articles from American sources indicating that something needed to be done about the trophy hunting of Canadian polar bears. One was from a Democrat source and the other a general news item from a news site. Both sources discussed the major impact hunting was having on polar bear numbers and how measures to stop hunting must be implemented.
I tried to read them objctively because I would be concerned if over-hunting was killing off our polar bears. That was until I saw a common denominator in both articles. The information was given by HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) and other animal rights groups. Surpised?
I’m not.
It was not long until I found out that only certain pieces of information were always quoted while other vital information was not.
For example, the second article I listed said this,
“Polar bears are being threatened by humans on two fronts: sport hunting and habitat loss due to global warming,” said Rep. Inslee, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee and Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “We need to address both.” … “It is unthinkable that these animals, already in such jeopardy from the effects of global warming, would be subjected to additional human-caused killing from the action of wealthy Americans who want to gain bragging rights within their fraternity of trophy hunters.”
The big picture is this,
“North America supports over 60% of the world’s polar bears, with the largest numbers being found in the Canadian arctic and subarctic regions. Polar bear populations have been well managed, and where depleted have been recovered under conservation and management programs that involve regulated subsistence and conservation hunting, den site protection, bear-human conflict prevention and education programs operating since the 1960s … Active bear management incorporating hunting plays a key role in local, national and international cooperation amongst Inuit hunters, International sportsmen, enforcement agencies, and governments, therefore, even in light of the acknowledged habitat changes underway, the demonstrated resilience and persistence of polar bears works very well with the adaptive management of the existing cooperative management systems in place. These systems demonstrate 40 years of cultural evolution and legal/biological/cultural interaction and collaboration.”
My source: the IUCN (World Conservation Union). Click here for their information on polar bears and the IUCN’s sustainable use policy. Why do I feel this source is valid? I followed the source listed from the second article in ‘The Facts” section. Somehow, this other information was left out of their article.
Hunting is NOT a threat to polar bears. What you have here is an attempt to discredit hunting as an effective conservation tool. This could remove a source of income for many northern communities. These communities NEED the polar bear. At $30000 dollars a bear you can bet they will do everything in their means to keep it there. They will also have a better perspective on what is really going on up there.
Don’t waste your time on bashing hunting. Put some money into figuring out if Global Warming really is ‘what it is’ and how to stop it. Both articles (and this blogger) agree on that.
