Trophy Hunting

A major problem facing polar bear populations today is hunting. Polar bears have long lives, but slow reproduction rates. Cubs are born every 3 years, normally in litters of 2. Because of this, polar bears rely on a high adult survival rate to maintain their populations.
Polar bear populations are hard to estimate becuase they live in extremely remote areas, but of the 20 recognized populations, half are currently threatened by over-hunting. If the hunting quotas aren't reduced, the remaining bears may also be over-hunted.
Because the US doesn't allow the hunting of polar bears in in Alaska, more and more hunters are going to Canada, where over half the world's polar bears are. This is legal because of the huge loophole in the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which allows the import of polar bear trophies from Canada into the US. In 2002-2005, 298 requests by US citizens to import polar bear trophies from Canada. Of the 298, 85% were issued; 252.
Hunters are permitted to import their trophies from 6 Canadian populations:
-Southern Beaufort Sea
-Northern Beaufort Sea
-Western Hudson Bay
-Lancaster Sound
-Viscount Melville Sound
-Norwegian Bay
Subsistence hunting is permitted in Canada, Greenland and Alaska, but currenlty Canada and Greenland are the only two of the 4 countries with polar bear populations to allow sport hunting.


The World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species cites "a potential risk of over-harvest due to increased quotas, excessive quotas or no quotas in Canada and Greenland and poaching in Russia."