Polar Bears: A Threatened Species

Polar Bears

By: Rayann Metteer

Taken from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Polar Bear Draft Conservation Management Plan.
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Polar%20Bear%20Conservation%20Mgmt%20Plan.pdf

What About Polar Bears?

Polar Bears live in the Arctic region of the North Pole and can be found in five countries worldwide. These countries include the United States, Russian, Denmark (specifically Greenland), Norway, and Canada. Within these five countries there are many subpopulations that occur in four ecoregions. These four ecoregions include the Archipelago Ecoregion, the Seasonal Ice Ecoregion, the Polar Basin Divergent Ecoregion, and the Polar Basin Convergent Ecoregion. All of the Polar Bears that are located in the United States live in Alaska. There are two subpopulations located in Alaska, which are the Chukchi Sea and the Southern Beaufort Sea subpopulations. These two subpopulations are part of the Polar Basin Divergent Ecoregion, which means that sea ice is formed annually and then moves towards the basin. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Taken from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Polar Bear Draft Conservation Management Plan.
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Polar%20Bear%20Conservation%20Mgmt%20Plan.pdf

Polar Bears are the largest member of the bear family in the world. They can be as large as 11 feet tall when standing upright, and can weigh up to 1400 pounds. The males are the ones that are this large, and the females are generally about half the size of males. The males’ paws can be the size of dinner plates. Polar Bears are made for extremely cold weather, and cold water. They have two types of fur. One type keeps them warm and the other types makes it easier for them to float in the water while swimming. They also have partially webbed feet that help them swim in the Arctic temperatures (Oregon Zoo).

Polar bears are K selected meaning that they have few offspring at a time, and spend much time nurturing those offspring. They also are much older when they have their first offspring. Female Polar Bears generally give birth for the first time when they are five or six years old. Their minimum amount of time for having another liter of pups is three years. One litter will generally consist of two cubs, but occasionally a female will have three cubs at one time. Cubs are typically weaned at 2.3 years of age. To keep populations stable, Polar Bears need high survival rates, especially of females, since they invest so much into raising their young (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

 

How Has Their Population and Region Changed?

It is estimated that there are currently between about 20,000 and 25,000 Polar Bears worldwide (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). It is estimated that the population of Polar Bears in the 1950’s was as low as between 5000 and 8000 (Polar Bears International). Prior to 1973, fur trappers unsustainably hunted Polar Bears. In 1973 however, the United States, Canada, Russia (then the USSR), Denmark, and Norway entered into the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears and their Habitat. Polar Bears are one of the few large carnivores that still can be found in the majority of their original region. This will change though as the ice around the North Pole continues to melt, and they are forced to retreat to any area that still has ice for their survival (World Wildlife Fund Global).

How Are They Listed?

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Polar Bears are a threatened species, meaning that they are likely to become endangered in the near or foreseeable future throughout their range of inhabitance. The listing also states that the area where Polar Bears are considered threatened is anywhere that they are found. The species was first listed on May 15^th of 2008. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). The ICUN Red List also lists the Polar Bear as vulnerable, as far back as 1982. In 1965 they listed the species as “Less rare but believed to be threatened-requires watching” (ICUN Red List). The Maine Mammal Protection Act also protects Polar Bears from “take” which includes killing, harassing or harming them, or their habitat (The Marine Mammal Center).

Why Were They Listed?

The main reason that Polar Bears have been listed under the Endangered Species Act, and by the ICUN Red List, is because of climate change caused by emission of greenhouse gases. Climate change is having an affect on the habitats that Polar Bears occupy, and making their continued survival as a species difficult. Global climate change has caused melting of much of the ice at the poles, which is where Polar Bears live.  This reduction in ice has made it hard for the Polar Bears to find food since they rely on ice fishing to catch ice seals, and has also imperiled their dens, which are necessary for raising cubs. Other very minor threats to Polar Bears are defense killings by people working for oil and gas industries in Alaska, and some subsistence hunting by Native American tribes due to ancient traditions (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

What is the Recovery Plan?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the Polar Bear Draft Conservation Management Plan on July 6^th of 2015. The plan details what actions the USFWS believes they can take to help conserve and recover Polar Bears. The plan is broken down into six sections, including: Background, Conservation Strategy, Management Goals and Criteria, Conservation Management Strategy, Literature Cited, and Glossary. The Background is an overview of the species, and their range, which was covered previously. The Conservation Strategy goes into what they plan to do to help Polar Bears. The downfall is that the USFWS cannot actually implement any law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so they have to rely on other agencies and countries to do that. They do however focus on specific ways to protect Polar Bears form other threats. The aim is to improve the Polar Bear’s ability to survive once greenhouse gas emissions are taken care of. They are dedicated to managing subsistence harvest, contact of bears with humans, and protecting the species from oil spills.

Taken from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Polar Bear Draft Conservation Management Plan.
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Polar%20Bear%20Conservation%20Mgmt%20Plan.pdf

The third section, Management Goals and Criteria, covers the goals of the Recovery Plan and the criteria to meet those goals.  It includes six subsections, which are: Fundamental Goals, Conservation Criteria Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Recovery Criteria Under the Endangered Species Act, Other Measures of Achievement, The Population Dynamic of Conservation, Recovery, and Harvest, and Uncertainty, Assumptions, and the Need for Adaptive Feedback and Management. This section of the plan states the species recovery criteria, which is “Recovery Criterion 1: the worldwide probability of persistence is at least 95% over 100 years. Recovery Criterion 2: the probability of persistence in each recovery unit (ecoregion) is at least 90% over 100 years” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). The Conservation Management Strategy is broken into two parts. Those parts being Collaborative Implementation, and Conservation and Recovery Actions. This section has more detail on how the USFWS will help and manage the different aspects of the conservation plan. The aspects such as managing subsistence harvest, mentioned above, are broken down step by step and in more detail in this section of the plan.

Literature Cited is a reference section that gives credit to all sources that were used in the creation of the document. The Glossary, the last section, provides key words that were used in the document along with definitions. This is especially helpful for those that are not familiar with many scientific terms. The full Recovery Plan can be found on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Website, and can be accessed here: http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Polar%20Bear%20Conservation%20Mgmt%20Plan.pdf.

What Can You Do?

There are many ways in which you can help save Polar Bears. Since the main reason for their listing is the melting of sea ice due to climate change, we can all help by finding ways to reduce our personal emissions of greenhouse gases. There are simple ways to this and the great part about reducing greenhouse gas emissions is that it not only helps Polar Bears and many other species, but it also helps you, and will likely save you money in the long run. These two website offer many tips and ideas for reducing greenhouse gas emissions:

• ·     http://www.eastgwillimbury.ca/Services/Environment/Ten_Ways_to_Reduce_Greenhouse_Gases.htm?PageMode=Print
• ·      http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/

Another way to help Polar Bears is to donate. The World Wildlife Fund offers a monthly donation plan where you can sponsor a Polar Bear. You can either receive a kit with information, pictures, and a stuffed Polar Bear, or you can opt to have all of your contribution go towards helping the species. This page can be found here:  https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/Donation2?df_id=10500&10500.donation=form1&s_src=AWG1308SSGC0&gclid=Cj0KEQiAyvqyBRChq_iG38PgvLgBEiQAJbasd0c-iLYOXJHSIPIcdp2oQJ5VBaND1NssFb2mihsoe8IaAi4_8P8HAQ

Lastly, another resource for learning about animals and ways to conserve wildlife are zoos. The Oregon Zoo has a great page with lots of information about animal conservation. Under their “Conserve” page is a section titled “Small Actions”. This section is especially interesting because it allows you to browse small actions to help by species, or you can look at actions and then see which species that action will help. You can find the Oregon Zoo Conserve page here: http://www.oregonzoo.org/conserve.

This is a photo from the Oregon Zoo Instagram page, of Polar
Bear twins born on December 1st, 1984. The twins still live
at the Oregon Zoo and are named Conrad and Tasul.
https://www.instagram.com/p/-wehnGNPmL/?taken-by=oregonzoo

References:

"Are Polar Bear Populations Increasing: In Fact, Booming? "Polar Bears International. Polar Bears International, 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. <http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/what-scientists-say/are-polar-bear-populations-booming>.

"Conserve." Oregon Zoo. Oregon Zoo. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. <http://www.oregonzoo.org/conserve>.

"Make a Difference With a Monthly Donation." World Wildlife Fund. World Wildlife Fund, 2015. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/Donation2?df_id=10500&10500.donation=form1&s_src=AWG1308SSGC0&gclid=Cj0KEQiAyvqyBRChq_iG38PgvLgBEiQAJbasd0c-iLYOXJHSIPIcdp2oQJ5VBaND1NssFb2mihsoe8IaAi4_8P8HAQ>.

"Oregon Zoo on Instagram." Instagram. 1 Dec. 2015. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <https://www.instagram.com/p/-wehnGNPmL/?taken-by=oregonzoo>.

"Polar Bear." Oregon Zoo. Oregon Zoo. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. <http://www.oregonzoo.org/discover/animals/polar-bear>.

"Polar Bear Status, Distribution & Population." World Wildlife Fund. World Wildlife Fund, 2015. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. < <http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/wildlife/polar_bear/population/>

"Ten Ways to Reduce Greenhouse Gases." Ten Ways to Reduce Greenhouse Gases. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <http://www.eastgwillimbury.ca/Services/Environment/Ten_Ways_to_Reduce_Greenhouse_Gases.htm?PageMode=Print>.

"The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, Amended 1994."The Marine Mammal Center. The Marine Mammal Center. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. <http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/what-we-do/rescue/marine-mammal-protection-act.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/>.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife. 2015. Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Conservation Management Plan, Draft. U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Region 7, Anchorage, Alaska. 59 pp.

"What You Can Do." United States Environmental Protection Agency. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 4 Nov. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. <http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/>.

Wiig, Ø., Amstrup, S., Atwood, T., Laidre, K., Lunn, N., Obbard, M., Regehr, E. & Thiemann, G. 2015. Ursus maritimus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T22823A14871490.http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T22823A14871490.en. Downloaded on 19 November 2015.