Polar Bears Are The Wrong Target Say Inuit
by Clive Tesar
Canadian Inuit are opposing vigorous lobbying efforts to get the polar bear listed as “threatened” under the American Endangered Species Act. The US government has been considering the action since 2006. Now three conservation groups, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace are threatening to sue the US government to get it to proceed with the listing. Canadian Inuit say the environmentalists are taking aim at the wrong target.
Two organizations that represent Inuit in Canada are disagreeing with the tactic of using the polar bear to try to force the American government to take action on climate change. Duane Smith, the president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada) says,
“I don’t see how listing it as threatened will complement the sustainability of the population. It is climate change that is the problem, not the sustainable hunting of polar bears.”
Some polar bears in Canada are currently hunted by American hunters, who pay well for the experience. The hunt brings more than one and half million dollars a year into small Inuit communities in the territory of Nunavut. The listing of polar bears would likely threaten that hunt, and the money it brings into the communities.
“Even with the sport hunts we use dog teams, a portion of tags also go toward subsistence harvesting, and we ensure that all the meat and other parts of the Polar Bear are fully utilized,”
says Smith.
“Our hunters and guides benefit economically and we are able to continue with our culture, enjoy the benefits of what we use, and ensure that this is done in a responsible and sustainable manner.”
At the moment, Inuit are convinced that polar bears are being hunted at sustainable levels. Whether or not that level of hunting will still be sustainable in the future, after the effects of climate change become more severe, remains to be seen. The bottom line is that stopping people from hunting polar bears now will not protect populations of polar bears in the future. Taking action on climate change now, on the other hand, will protect populations of polar bears in the future
January 21st, 2008 at 9:51 pm
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March 20th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
polar bears evolved from brown bears when they were stranded due to isolation. polar bears are not weak animals and do have the capability to adapt and therefore deserve the chance to do so. by allowing the inuit people to sacrifice the polar bears for money in order to protect their own culture, they are not permitting the polar bears to grow in number and have a fair chance at adapting to the climate change. global warming has been happening for quite some time (as in thousands of years) and it is not all the human’s fault. however, allowing hunters to pay large amounts of money in order to have an “awesome kill” notched on their belt and hanging in their living room is not giving these bears a fair chance in survival. stop hunting these bears for game and “sport” purposes and see how great the polar bear will become.
October 20th, 2009 at 1:06 am
There is no such thing as “sustainable hunting”. Predators kill the weak. Hunters deliberately target the strong, thereby weakening the gene pool. For details, see http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/sustain.
It is easy to favor preserving native cultures; most people do. It is easy to favor preserving wildlife; most people do. What nobody wants to talk about is what to do when those two priorities conflict with each other, as in this case. The only choice that makes sense is to protect the weaker party –in this case, the polar bear. Extinction is forever, and polar bears cannot protect themselves from humans. The Inuit, on the other hand, like all humans, can live almost anywhere. It would be a shame for them to lose their culture, but there is really no way to preserve it. It is fast becoming obsolete, due to forces beyond our control.
In a choice between saving the Inuit culture, which may be 10,000 years old, versus saving the polar bear, a species that is millions of years old, we MUST come down on the side of the polar bear and other wildlife.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:47 pm
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January 26th, 2010 at 10:53 am
I heard about this news regarding polar bears, and its big threaten….