Will Canada ban polar bear trophy hunting?

[The Straight Story]

Last year, amid much media hoopla, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) received protected status under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. One aspect of that protection is that American hunters, who often travel to Canada to hunt polar bears, can no longer bring their trophies into the U.S.

Canada considers polar bears to be a "species of special concern," and has quotas on hunts, which remain both legal and profitable. Quotas vary by province and polar bear population area -- for example, this year hunters are allowed to harvest 105 polar bears in the Baffin Bay region. About 60 percent of the world's 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears live in Canada.

Those hunts could soon be affected by the international community. Later this month, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international agreement governing international trade in specimens of endangered or threatened animals and plants, is set to discuss whether to ban the export and import of polar bear-hunt trophies among all of the convention's 175 signatory nations, including the U.S., Canada and China. A decision could result in a ban of trophy exports, which would effectively end polar bear sport hunting in Canada.

The Canadian Wildlife Service, which implements CITES regulations on behalf of the Canadian government, has a major part in that decision. According to a report in The Nunatsiaq News, the agency is considering several options, among them reducing or ending sport-hunting harvests in up to four different polar bear population areas.

http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=will-canada-ban-polar-bear-trophy-h-2009-04-17

[Arctic Dave]

1. As far as I remember, you couldn't bring a Polar Bear trophy

into the US, period. Canadian ban or not.