Changes

Human populations within the Arctic Circle have routinely hunted the polar bear for meat and skins, and sometimes for sport.  In one famous incident a young [[Horatio Nelson]] was almost killed by a polar bear that he intended to hunt; when his gun misfired the attacking bear was driven off by a cannon-shot from Nelson's ship. [http://www.britsattheirbest.com/freedom/f_abolishing_slavery_two.htm]

Human populations within the Arctic Circle have routinely hunted the polar bear for meat and skins, and sometimes for sport.  In one famous incident a young [[Horatio Nelson]] was almost killed by a polar bear that he intended to hunt; when his gun misfired the attacking bear was driven off by a cannon-shot from Nelson's ship. [http://www.britsattheirbest.com/freedom/f_abolishing_slavery_two.htm]

====Population and Protection====

==Population and Protection==

A belief in over-hunting during the 1960s and 1970s and the drop in bear population levels prompted the five Arctic nations with polar bear populations to create and sign the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears in 1973.<ref name="bearfacts">Polar Bears International: [http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/bear-facts/ Bear Facts]</ref> Since these conservation efforts had been made, the world population rose to an estimated 22-27,000<ref>Nature Canada: [http://www.naturecanada.ca/climate_change_polar.asp Climate Change and Polar Bears]</ref> even though there is no adequte census.<ref name="bearfacts"/> where it currently stands.  However, a variety of additional factors, such as airborne toxins (polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs) or the claimed effects of man-made [[global warming]] may have caused a decrease in bear population, principly [[Alaska]] where an estimated 2,000 bears exist, and [[Hudson Bay]], Canada, where a drop was recorded from 1,100 bears in 1995 to fewer than 950 in 2004.

A belief in over-hunting during the 1960s and 1970s and the drop in bear population levels prompted the five Arctic nations with polar bear populations to create and sign the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears in 1973.<ref name="bearfacts">Polar Bears International: [http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/bear-facts/ Bear Facts]</ref> Since these conservation efforts had been made, the world population rose to an estimated 22-27,000<ref>Nature Canada: [http://www.naturecanada.ca/climate_change_polar.asp Climate Change and Polar Bears]</ref> even though there is no adequte census.<ref name="bearfacts"/> where it currently stands.  However, a variety of additional factors, such as airborne toxins (polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs) or the claimed effects of man-made [[global warming]] may have caused a decrease in bear population, principly [[Alaska]] where an estimated 2,000 bears exist, and [[Hudson Bay]], Canada, where a drop was recorded from 1,100 bears in 1995 to fewer than 950 in 2004.

====Activism====

==Activism==

The polar bear has become a "symbol of global warming caused by humans" in the eyes of environmentalists.  

The polar bear has become a "symbol of global warming caused by humans" in the eyes of environmentalists.  

The [[World Conservation Union]] (IUCN) classified the polar bear as a "vulnerable species" on the "Red List of Threatened Species".<ref>2007 IUCN Red List: [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/22823/all "Ursus maritimus"]</ref> The given reason was not hunting, but rather the assumed impact of global warming on their habitat.<ref>''Global climate change posses a substantial threat to the habitat of polar bears.'' - 2007 IUCN Red List: [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/22823/all "Ursus maritimus"] (Justification section)</ref><ref>''"I don't think there is any question polar bears are in danger from global warming," said Andrew Derocher of the World Conservation Union, and a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. "People who deny that have a clear interest in hunting bears."'' - Telegraph.co.uk: [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/09/wpolar09.xml " Polar bears 'thriving as the Arctic warms up' "]</ref><ref>''Climate change is the main threat to polar bears today. A diminishing ice pack directly affects polar bears, as sea ice is the platform from which they hunt seals. Although the Arctic has experienced warm periods before, the present shrinking of the Arctic's sea ice is rapid and unprecedented.''- Polar Bears International: [http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/bear-facts/ Bear Facts]</ref>

The [[World Conservation Union]] (IUCN) classified the polar bear as a "vulnerable species" on the "Red List of Threatened Species".<ref>2007 IUCN Red List: [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/22823/all "Ursus maritimus"]</ref> The given reason was not hunting, but rather the assumed impact of global warming on their habitat.<ref>''Global climate change posses a substantial threat to the habitat of polar bears.'' - 2007 IUCN Red List: [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/22823/all "Ursus maritimus"] (Justification section)</ref><ref>''"I don't think there is any question polar bears are in danger from global warming," said Andrew Derocher of the World Conservation Union, and a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. "People who deny that have a clear interest in hunting bears."'' - Telegraph.co.uk: [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/09/wpolar09.xml " Polar bears 'thriving as the Arctic warms up' "]</ref><ref>''Climate change is the main threat to polar bears today. A diminishing ice pack directly affects polar bears, as sea ice is the platform from which they hunt seals. Although the Arctic has experienced warm periods before, the present shrinking of the Arctic's sea ice is rapid and unprecedented.''- Polar Bears International: [http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/bear-facts/ Bear Facts]</ref>