The History Behind The Polar Bears

The North, specifically the Arctic, has been polar bears's home for many years. The Inuit people have lived with them, hunting them occasionally for food or clothing. There was never any fear that the Inuit people would over hunt the polar bears because it was dangerous and the weapons available to them were primitive (Endangered Polar Bear, 2014). However, it wasn't just the Inuit people who hunted our furry friends: several polar bear populations were decimated by unsustainable hunting by European, Russian and American hunters and trappers from the 1600s right through to the mid-1970's (WWF, 2014). Eventually in the 1970s the over hunting was brought under control by the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears and Their Habitat (Endangered Polar Bear, 2014). Since the 1970s, with the emergence of many factories, buildings, and other infrastructure, global warming has been the leading cause of the ice in the polar bears's home to melt, and causing fewer and fewer polar bears to live. In 1973, Canada, the United States, Denmark, Norway and the former USSR signed the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears and their Habitat, strictly regulating commercial hunting (WWF, 2014). The US Government classified the Polar Bear under its Endangered Species Act (ESA) (WWF, 2014). Fast forward to today, and polar bears are among the few large carnivores that are still found in (or near) their original habitat.

http://www.andybiggs.com/images/polarbears_3.jpg

References List

• "History of Polar Bears" Endangered Polar Bear. http://www.endangeredpolarbear.com/history-of-polar-bears.html (accessed: February 25th, 2014). 

• "Polar Bear Status, Distribution, & Population". WWF. http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/wildlife/polar_bear/population/ (accessed: February 25th, 2014).