Humans Biggest Threat to Polar Bear Survival:

Once a person views the evidence, it's clear that polar bears are under assault.

The evidence that chemical contamination is on the increase has been proven, from monitoring the chemical levels in fish, in our children, in newborn, and in polar bears. Predators such as orcas and polar bears are more vulnerable to toxins since they ingest not only what is in their environment, but all of the toxins and chemicals they their prey has ingested. 

The evidence for global warming has accumulated in the past decade. There is no need to go over this information. A person only has to turn on the news and they will hear reports about this. While not everything can be blamed on global warming, it is obvious that the ice is melting. This in turn is seriously affecting the life of polar bears.

As if the above weren't enough polar bears also face a third threat. What is frustrating about this threat is how avoidable it is. There is no reason for this threat. But every year in Canada alone 700 polar bears are killed by trophy hunters. These deaths do not reflect the fact that young polar bears will starve if a mother bear is no longer around to nurture her young.

Polar bears are slow to reproduce and only have 2 cubs at a time.  Assuming conditions are optimal they may have up to 5 litters in their lifetime.  Polar bears only start to reproduce once they reach 4 or 5 years of age. It doesn't take a mathematician to realize that polar bear hunting by itself is preventing the polar bear population to increase to a healthier number.

The current status quo cannot continue indefinitely otherwise in 25 years there will no longer be  wild polar bears. To some people this is not a concern. Fortunately there are people who would prefer to live in a world where a majestic white beast roams the great north.

Less than 1000 humans a year are responsible for polar bear hunting. That such a small number can be responsible for damaging a wild population is simply preposterous. That world governments allow this and benefit from this, is even more unimaginable. But this is something that can be remedied. 

Once polar bear hunting is no longer an issue, there will be other issues to tackle such as global warming and chemicals in the air. Fortunately we have the technology to greatly reduce our ecological footprint. As a species we simply have to learn to change our ways. 

Humans are the greatest threat to polar bears and all wildlife in general. Fortunately for polar bears not too many humans are keen in living in such cold climates. Polar bears are very fortunate that they do not have to deal with issues other species have to contend with, such as urban sprawl and agriculture. The problems that they face may seem insurmountable but the task can certainly be tackled.

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