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Iceland police shoot second Greenland polar bear
Police in Iceland have shot a second polar bear that apparently travelled hundreds of kilometres across the sea to the island nation.
The animal was spotted by a 12-year-old girl on a farm, who raised the alarm - causing a crowd of media and onlookers to gather.
But the bear was gunned down after it charged the journalists.
It is believed the bear travelled several hundred kilometres from Greenland atop an ice floe, probably landing near the town of Saudarkrokur, on the Skaga fjord, where it was seen and killed.
The bear was the second known to have made the trip across the north Atlantic in just two weeks.
They were the first such incidents in 20 years in Iceland, which lies just below the Arctic Circle and where polar bears are not native.
In the earlier case, authorities permitted police marksmen to kill the polar bear, sparking protests from environmentalists and animal rights' groups.
After the protests, authorities had vowed to capture the second bear and have it shipped in a cage back to Greenland or give it to a zoo.
But after the bear charged a group of reporters "in a panic", a police spokesman said they had "no other choice" but to kill it.
Police in Iceland have shot a second polar bear that apparently travelled hundreds of kilometres across the sea to the island nation. ... more -
Bush admin ok's harassment of polar bears for "oil hunters"
WASHINGTON - Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.
The Fish and Wildlife Service issued regulations this week providing legal protection to seven oil companies planning to search for oil and gas in the Chukchi Sea off the northwestern coast of Alaska if "small numbers" of polar bears or Pacific walruses are incidentally harmed by their activities over the next five years.
Environmentalists said the new regulations give oil companies a blank check to harass the polar bear.About 2,000 of the 25,000 polar bears in the Arctic live in and around the Chukchi Sea, where the government in February auctioned off oil leases to ConocoPhillips Co., Shell Oil Co. and five other companies for $2.6 billion. Over objections from environmentalists and members of Congress, the sale occurred before the bear was classified as threatened in May.
Polar bears are naturally curious creatures and sensitive to changes in their environment. Vibrations, noises, unusual scents and the presence of industrial equipment can disrupt their quest for prey and their efforts to raise their young in snow dens.
End of Excerpt
Source: MSNBC WASHINGTON - Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is ... more -
Polar Bear Fever - VIDEO
Animals in their Environment: Freezing Issues
Flying over Hudson Bay, I saw the bears. It was so beautiful. But the cracks in the ice symbolise their future. For two decades, I've visited this place and every year spring has arrived earlier and autumn arrived later. Last year, it was November before the ice was thick enough for the bears to start walking to their hunting grounds.
Polar bears are the largest bears in the world. They spend their lives on the Arctic ice, hunting small mammals and birds on the icy plains, catching seals and whales in the cold waters. Bears in Hudson Bay, where the ice melts completely in the summer, wait ashore for it to snow, unable to feed. They need ice to survive.
Please see these incredible photos @: http://www.rosing.de/news/news_e.html
Animals in their Environment: Freezing Issues ... more -
Bush OK's Big Oil to Harass Polar Bears & Walruses
WASHINGTON - Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.
The Fish and Wildlife Service issued regulations this week providing legal protection to seven oil companies planning to search for oil and gas in the Chukchi Sea off the northwestern coast of Alaska if "small numbers" of polar bears or Pacific walruses are incidentally harmed by their activities over the next five years.
Environmentalists said the new regulations give oil companies a blank check to harass the polar bear.
About 2,000 of the 25,000 polar bears in the Arctic live in and around the Chukchi Sea, where the government in February auctioned off oil leases to ConocoPhillips Co., Shell Oil Co. and five other companies for $2.6 billion. Over objections from environmentalists and members of Congress, the sale occurred before the bear was classified as threatened in May.
Polar bears are naturally curious creatures and sensitive to changes in their environment. Vibrations, noises, unusual scents and the presence of industrial equipment can disrupt their quest for prey and their efforts to raise their young in snow dens.
The agency made no secret that oil and gas operations would continue in polar bear territory when it announced May 14 that melting sea ice threatened the creature's survival. But Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne assured the public that the bear population would not be harmed.
"Polar bears are already protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which has more stringent protections for polar bears than the Endangered Species Act does," Kempthorne said.
Environmentalists already suing the agency over its determination that the bear's threatened status cannot be used to regulate global warming gases said Kempthorne's earlier assurances were misleading.
"Now, three weeks later, Interior issues a rule under the act that we view as a blank check to harass the polar bear in the Chukchi Sea," said Brendan Cummings, oceans program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. He added that his group believes the new regulations are illegal....
WASHINGTON - Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is ... more -
How Much Can a Polar....Bear?
The US has listed the Polar bear as 'Threatened'. Now, it is Canada's turn. Please follow this link & quick sign the petition:
http://www.naturecanada.ca/take_action.asp
OR
http://supporter.naturecanada.ca/site/PageServer?pagena...
Thank you! The US has listed the Polar bear as 'Threatened'. Now, it is Canada's turn. Please follow this link & quick sign the petition: ... more -
Polar bear shot after 200 mile swim
A polar bear that swam more than 200 miles in near-freezing waters to reach Iceland was shot on arrival in case it posed a threat to humans.
The bear, thought to be the first to reach the country in at least 15 years, was killed after local police claimed it was a danger to humans, triggering an outcry from animal lovers. Police claimed it was not possible to sedate the bear.
The operation to kill the animal was captured on film.
The adult male, weighing 250kg, was presumed to have swum some 200 miles from Greenland, or from a distant chunk of Arctic ice, to Skagafjordur in northern Iceland.
"There was fog up in the hills and we took the decision to kill the bear before it could disappear into the fog," said the police spokesman Petur Bjornsson.
Iceland's environment minister, Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir, gave the green light for police to shoot the bear because the correct tranquiliser would have taken 24 hours to be flown in, the Icelandic news channel Visir.is reported.
Sveinbjarnardottir's account was disputed by the chief vet in the town of Blönduó, Egill Steingrímsson, who said he had the drugs necessary to immobilise the bear in the boot of his car. "If the narcotics gun would have been sent by plane, it would have arrived within an hour," he said. "They could keep tabs on the bear for that long."
Steingrímsson also criticised police for not closing a mountain road where people congregated after hearing news of the bear. "There were around 50 to 60 people there watching. The police did not have many options when the bear ran down the hill, approaching the crowd," Steingrimsson said. "I'm very unsatisfied that the police did not try to catch it alive and did not close the road."
The oldest record of polar bears being sighted in Iceland is from 890, 16 years after the first settlers arrived. The last visit was in 1993, when sailors saw a bear swimming off the coast of Strandir. It was also killed.
Polar bears were frequently tamed during the middle ages, but since then no bear has been captured alive in Iceland. Receding North Pole ice is diminishing their hunting and mating grounds and jeopardising their survival.
A spokesman for PolarWorld, a German group dedicated to the preservation of the polar regions and the creatures which inhabit it, called the bear's death "an avoidable tragedy ... another great day for mankind". A polar bear that swam more than 200 miles in near-freezing waters to reach Iceland was shot on arrival in case it posed a threat to h... more -
Wandering polar bear shot in Iceland
The last time a polar bear came ashore in Iceland was in 1988. Today the Icelandic authorities said they were forced to shoot an adult male, presumed to have swum ashore from drifting ice, found wandering on the island, in order to protect the public. Initial plans to anaesthetize the animal were abandoned due to extreme fog blighting views of it.
Last month, polar bears were listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act because their sea ice habitat is melting away. The last time a polar bear came ashore in Iceland was in 1988. Today the Icelandic authorities said they were forced to shoot an adul... more -
Oil-loving Alaska governor fights polar bear's new endangered status
Alaska's Republican state governor, Sarah Palin, has announced plans to fight the Bush administration on its decision to place polar bears on the endangered species list. Palin is challenging conservation and environmental data, and sights concerns that the Endangered Species Act ruling will hinder oil exploration in the state.
As we previously reported (see story), the polar bear's addition to the endangered species list had repeatedly been delayed, allowing an oil rights sale, which generated bids totaling nearly $3.4 billion, to proceed in an area that is home to 20% of the world's polar bear population. There are less than 25,000 polar bears in total, and that number is expected to decline by 60% over the next 50 years as the creature's habitat literally melts away.
Palin was the first woman to hold office in Alaska, and was also the youngest governor ever to be sworn in. She likes snowmobiling and moose burgers, and was an athlete and a beauty queen prior to taking up politics. Obviously she didn't win her Miss Wasilla 1984 pageant title by promising to "help children and animals."
http://www.dailymantra.com
Alaska's Republican state governor, Sarah Palin, has announced plans to fight the Bush administration on its decision to place polar b... more -
Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor
The polar bear should be removed from the endangered species list because its protected status will hamper drilling for oil and gas in Alaska, the state's Republican Governor has demanded.
Sarah Palin is suing the Bush Administration over its decision last week to place the animal under the protection of the Endangered Species Act, claiming that climate models predicting the continued loss of sea ice - the main habitat of polar bears - are unreliable.
The lawsuit came as a surprise because most of the outcry after last week's decision came from environmental groups. Although pleased that the Bush Administration had singled out climate change as a reason to place an animal under the protection of the Endangered Species Act, the green lobby were dismayed about restrictions attached to the listing.
Yet the Governor of Alaska - a state whose residents overwhelmingly support oil exploration - is arguing that the polar bear does not need added protection, and the bear populations have increased significantly over the past 30 years because of conservation. Ms Palin maintains that any commercial development in Alaska requiring federal permits or funding would have to go through a consultation process - described by Steven Daugherty, Alaska's assistant Attorney-General, as “basically a big time-and-money waster”. .
In a stark warning last year, scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre said that the total Arctic ice cover had melted to its lowest level in modern times, and that if melting rates continued the summertime Arctic could be ice-free within 80 years.
Kassie Siegel, of the Centre for Biological Diversity, said that it was unconscionable for Ms Palin to ignore overwhelming evidence of global warming's threat to the polar bear's habitat. “Even the Bush Administration cannot deny the reality of global warming,” she said. “The Governor is aligning herself and the state of Alaska with the most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints by denying this. “She is either grossly misinformed or intentionally misleading, and both are unbecoming. ”
Dirk Kempthorne, the US Interior Secretary, who made the listing, said that it was based on three findings. “First, sea ice is vital to polar bear survival; second, the polar bear's habitat has dramatically melted; third, sea ice is likely to further recede in the future.”
The polar bear should be removed from the endangered species list because its protected status will hamper drilling for oil and gas in... more -
Polar Bears and Rough Ice: Traveling Through the Arctic
Renowned polar explorer Will Steger, leader of the GlobalWarming101 Ellesmere Island Expedition http://www.globalwarming101.com ), expected the Arctic to throw all it had at his team.
The Arctic delivered.
“Out here we often feel like we are completely alone and it was quite to Eric's surprise to turn around and see a polar bear following him only 10 meters behind,” expedition member Sarah McNair-Landry tells on GlobalWarming101.com “Once the bear lost interest in us and wandered away we were able to continue forward, but only for a couple km before we were stopped dead in our tracks. A dense rubble field of ice lay in front of us, with no easy way through. With our axes and shovels we were able to pave a path, but did have a slight interruption from whom we presume was the same bear as before.”
Renowned polar explorer Will Steger, leader of the GlobalWarming101 Ellesmere Island Expedition (http://www.globalwarming101.com ), ex... more -
Polar Bears and Rough Ice
Renowned polar explorer Will Steger, leader of the GlobalWarming101 Ellesmere Island Expedition ( http://www.globalwarming101.com ), expected the Arctic to throw all it had at his team.
The Arctic delivered.
See the story of the team and their polar bear encounters as they traveled through the rough ice, littered with seal pups.
Learn more about the expedition and their eyewitness account of the effects of climate change on the northern Canadian ice shelves at http://www.globalwarming101.com
Renowned polar explorer Will Steger, leader of the GlobalWarming101 Ellesmere Island Expedition ( http://www.globalwarming101.com ), e... more -
A hollow victory for the polar bear
After a three year battle the polar bear has won its place on the government's Endangered Species list. But it's a somewhat hollow victory.
Three non-profits, the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), first sued the Bush administration in 2005 to secure protection for the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. After many hearings, and even more hold ups, the government was compelled by law to make a final decision by January 9, 2008. The government flouted this deadline however, and was subsequently forced to make a decision by May 15 after animal rights activists, again, took the matter to the court.
This delay allowed The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) to complete the first Chukchi Sea oil lease sale since 1991. A press release posted on the MMS' own website boasted that the sale resulted in "667 bids on 488 blocks -- both record-setting numbers -- on the Outer Continental Shelf," with submitted bids "totaling almost $3.4 billion."
The Chuck Sea lies between Alaska and Siberea and is home to one fifth of the world's polar bear population. "Had the polar bear been listed prior to January 9 as the law required, that lease sale could not have moved forward without some substantial additional review of the impacts to polar bears," said Kassie Siegel, who serves as the climate program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
"After years of delay, the Bush administration was forced to face the reality that global warming has endangered the polar bear and that the polar bear needs to be placed on the Endangered Species Act," said the Republican Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Edward J. Markey in a statement to CNN. "But the administration has also simultaneously announced a rule aimed at allowing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic to continue unchecked even in the face of the polar bears' threatened extinction. Essentially, the administration is giving a gift to Big Oil, and short shrift to the polar bear."
It's estimated that there are between 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears in total on the planet, but the population is expected to decline to less than 10,000 over the next 50 years. Polar bears are only found in the wild in the Arctic. They spend much of the year on sea ice hunting for seals, which serve as their staple high fat diet. But global warming is taking its toll on the Arctic. The region is warming at a rate that is five times faster than that of the earth as a whole. In September 2007, the Arctic ice cap shrunk to a record low, with an additional 1 million square miles disappearing compared to previous years, meaning the polar bear lost an area of habitat equivalent in size to six times that of California.
Despite the fact that polar bears (and the planet) are on such thin ice, the government has its eye firmly on the gas pump, and is far more concerned about the interests of big business. While adding the majestic creatures to the endangered species list, the Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, cautioned that the Environmental Protection Act should not be "misused" to regulate global warming.
"Listing the polar bear as threatened can reduce avoidable losses of polar bears. But it should not open the door to use of the Endangered Species Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, power plants, and other sources," said Kempthorne. "That would be a wholly inappropriate use of the ESA law. The ESA is not the right tool to set U.S. climate policy."
Fortunately for the polar bear, the Bush government will soon be extinct. With even John McCain making environmentally constructive comments in recent days, lets hope they can hold out for a wind of change. After a three year battle the polar bear has won its place on the government's Endangered Species list. But it's a somewhat hollow vic... more -
90% of environmental damage caused by rising temperatures
A major study shows 90% of damage is caused by rising temperatures. Conclusions based on reports going back to 1970. Global warming is disrupting wildlife and the environment on every continent, according to an unprecedented study that reveals the extent to which climate change is already affecting the world's ecosystems.
The recent study was based on over 829 reports, examining 28,800 animal and plant species
Credit: Guardian Unlimited A major study shows 90% of damage is caused by rising temperatures. Conclusions based on reports going back to 1970. Global warming is... more -
U.S. Government will list polar bears as threatened
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced Wednesday that the U.S. government will list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, making it the first animal species to win protections because of threats from global warming.
The Arctic sea ice is vital to the bear's survival, its habitat has dramatically melted and computer models show that the pack ice is likely to continue melting in the foreseeable future, Kempthorne said.
Environmental groups had pressed the Bush administration to list the polar bear in hope that it would force the U.S. government to pass restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions from factories, utilities and vehicles, saying that strategy is the only way to avoid the harshest effects of climate change.
But Kempthorne made it clear that the Bush administration wouldn't use the the act to limit emissions on industrial sources or otherwise regulate greenhouse gases. The law and science wouldn't allow it because direct connections couldn't be made between greenhouse gas emissions and harm to the polar bear, he said.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced Wednesday that the U.S. government will list the polar bear as threatened under the Enda... more -
Polar bear now listed as 'threatened' species
Polar bears will now be listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.
But in announcing the listing, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne said the decision should not be "misused" to regulate global climate change.
"Listing the polar bear as threatened can reduce avoidable losses of polar bears. But it should not open the door to use of the Endangered Species Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, power plants, and other sources," said Kempthorne.
"That would be a wholly inappropriate use of the ESA law. The ESA is not the right tool to set U.S. climate policy."
While there are an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears now in the Arctic, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey predict two thirds of the world's polar bears will disappear in the next 50 years because of a decline in Arctic sea ice.
Controversy over the status of the polar bear is tied to the fact that this is the first time a species has been considered for listing specifically because its habitat is threatened by global warming.
The announcement is getting mixed reviews.
Some environmental groups are wary of some of the climate change caveats to the decision, saying it weakens protection for the animals.
"This decision is a watershed event because it has forced the Bush administration to acknowledge global warming's brutal impacts," said Kassie Siegel, climate program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
"It's not too late to save the polar bear, and we'll keep fighting to ensure that the polar bear gets the help it needs through the full protections of the Endangered Species Act. The administration's attempts to reduce protection to the polar bear from greenhouse gas emissions are illegal and won't hold up in court," said Siegel.
But other animal protection organizations praised the decision.
"Today's decision is a tremendous victory for one of the world's most iconic and charismatic animals," said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund US on the group's Web site. "The other big winner today is sound science, which has clearly trumped politics, providing polar bears a new lease on life."
Some members of Congress are less than thrilled with the decision.
Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Massachusetts, is Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
"After years of delay, the Bush administration was forced to face the reality that global warming has endangered the polar bear and that the polar bear needs to be placed on the Endangered Species Act," said Markey in a statement to CNN. "But the administration has also simultaneously announced a rule aimed at allowing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic to continue unchecked even in the face of the polar bear's threatened extinction. Essentially, the administration is giving a gift to Big Oil, and short shrift to the polar bear." Polar bears will now be listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. ... more -
Not a grizzly bear...not a polar bear... but a "grolar bear"
Due to melting ice caps, polar bears are moving further south and encountering grizzly bears. This interaction between the two species has led to cross breeding, and the result--a grolar bear. Due to melting ice caps, polar bears are moving further south and encountering grizzly bears. This interaction between the two specie... more
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Government of Nunavut plan to tag 300 bears angers hunters
Inuit hunters in Nunavut, an autonomous region in northern Canada, are unhappy with the Government of Nunavut's plan to tranquilize 300 polar bears in the Foxe Basin and clip them with radio-frequency ear tags fitted with an RFID. The plan is part of a study to track polar bear movements. Hunters oppose the plan because of a Health Canada guideline that bans the consumption of meat within a year from an animal that has tranquilized.
Further, the drug itself is subject to controversy. GN wildlife workers will tranquilize the bears with Zoletil, a powerful drug cocktail composed of teletamine -- a PCP-like anaesthetic -- and a tranquilizer similar to valium. The article mentions that although Zoletil is used widely by veterinarians and wildlife researchers working with animals, occasionally the drug finds its way into the hands of substance abusers. One former GN polar bear researcher was caught injecting Zoletil in 2000. The plan has provoked opposition from Kivalliq Wildlife Board, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., and hunters in affected communities.
The Foxe Basin is a vast area that extends to Hudson Bay, Rankin Inlet, and Nunavik to the east. Inuit hunters in Nunavut, an autonomous region in northern Canada, are unhappy with the Government of Nunavut's plan to tranquilize 30... more -
Grizzly/Polar hybrid: ice melt could see rise of 'Grolar' bear
"Scientists have suggested that due to the adverse effects of Arctic ice melting, the hybrid of a polar bear and grizzly bear - dubbed the 'grolar bear', might rise in numbers.
According to a report in The Sun , the effects of climate change means that the hybrid bears could become more common as their habitats increasingly overlap due to global warming.
"One of the real things that is happening is that grizzlies are moving north, at the same time the polar bears are forced to be on the beach and we have found a number of grizzly bear polar bear hybrids," said biologist Dr George Divoky, who has worked in the Arctic region for over three decades.
"Essentially that could mean that it would save the polar bear genes in the grizzly population," he added.
Biologists have already spotted the hybrid species.
In April 2006, a white bear with brown patches was shot in northern Canada and DNA tests confirmed it was a 'grolar' bear. It was said to have been fathered by a male grizzly and a female polar bear.
In spite of the emergence of the hybrid bears, scientists fear that the overall impact of Arctic ice melting could have a disastrous effect in the long run.
"Having seen things, I would never be surprised if in 2008 the summer ice disappears," Dr Divoky said. "This has never happened in the period of human observation. We will know it when it happens and we will have to deal with that," he added. "Scientists have suggested that due to the adverse effects of Arctic ice melting, the hybrid of a polar bear and grizzly bear - dubbed... more -
Major Arctic sea ice melt is expected this summer
The Arctic will remain on thinning ice, and climate warming is expected to begin affecting the Antarctic also, scientists said Friday.
"The long-term prognosis is not very optimistic," atmospheric scientist Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University said at a briefing.
Last summer sea ice in the North shrank to a record low, a change many attribute to global warming. The Arctic will remain on thinning ice, and climate warming is expected to begin affecting the Antarctic also, scientists said Friday.... more -
US ordered to act on polar bear
Perhaps the country is waking up. What do you think?
Excerpt-"A judge has told the US government to decide within weeks whether to list polar bears as an endangered species."
Perhaps the country is waking up. What do you think? ... more
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Polar Bears
