[Junior Herald]The endangered polarbear

Polar bears may soon be on the same list as pandas, cheetahs, elephants and other endangered species. Due to recent changes in the environment, and especially in the Artic, the habitat of polar bears is changing and their number is decreasing. Consequently, the U.S. government is considering adding the polar bear to its list of threatened species, according to an announcement made Dec. 27.



Currently, there are 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears. They live mostly in the Arctic, in places like Russia, Denmark, Norway, Canada and the United States. However, about a quarter of this population lives in the U.S. state of Alaska.



The International Conservation Union recently listed polar bears as a threatened species. And a study in Canada showed that from 1987 to 2004, the number of Canadian polar bears decreased by 22 percent or from 1,194 to 935. Since so many polar bears live in the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed doing a similar study. If their results are the same, the polar bear will be considered a threatened species.



If the polar bears are listed as a threatened species, the U.S. government will be responsible for creating a recovery plan for the animals. This means the government will try to reduce threats to the population and help it improve.



This could be a difficult problem since the cause of the polar bears` decline is the melting of Arctic ice. The polar bears use this ice to hunt seals. However, as more ice melts, the polar bears have to swim longer distances between the ice and land, which makes it harder for them to hunt.



Most scientists agree that the Artic ice is melting as a result of global warming. A recent study even predicts that by the end of the century, Artic ice may no longer exist. But scientists are not sure whether the polar bears will be able to survive without the Arctic ice, or if any solution will work fast enough to save their habitat.





By Victoria Cook (vcook@heraldm.com)