Over the course
of 20 years, there has been a significant drop in the survival of cubs,
and a lower body weight and smaller skull size in adult male polar bears (Polar Bears International, 2014). It is
also extremely difficult to find the exact number of polar bears in the world
because of how spread out they are, over hundreds of miles of ice and open
water, and range across international boundaries. Despite this, ways in which researches have estimated the numbers includes the mark and recapture method. Another way in which researches have
tried to estimate the number of bears is by asking local residents. However, people
have believed the frequent myth that polar bear numbers are actually
increasing, but they are false. Because of global warming, the ice is melting,
and since polar bears life depends on ice, they have to swim to land, and who
lives on land? Humans. So it is obvious for people to say that the numbers of
polar bears are increasing if they are seeing the animals more often on land. What
we do know is that there are 19 generally recognized subpopulations, and of
those 19, eight are declining in number, three are stable, one is increasing,
and seven have insufficient data (as of 2009) (Wikipedia, 2014).
Some ways to
increase the number of polar bears were imposed (but not exactly carried out) in Canada, which included banning polar bear hunting all together, and shipping many polar bears to Antarctica where there are plethora amounts of ice. In addition to this, aerial hunting was ceased in Alaska, and trapping and hunting were banned in Svalbard, however,
these events occurred in the late 60s or early 1970s (Polar Bears International, 2014). It doesn’t matter that hunting is now largely under control or that
we know a lot about other impacts people might have on bears. Because without
habitat, polar bears will disappear no matter what we do.
- "Are Polar Bear Populations Increasing: In Fact, Booming?" Polar Bears International. http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/what-scientists-say/are-polar-bear-populations-booming (accessed: February 12, 2014).
- "Polar Bear". Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear (accessed: February 12th, 2014).
- "Polar Bear Population Studies" Polar Bears International. http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/our-work/research-programs/polar-bear-population-studies (accessed: February 12th, 2014).
- "Polar Bear Status, Distribution, and Population". WWF Global. http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/wildlife/polar_bear/population/ (accessed: February 12th, 2014).
No comments:
Post a Comment