Polar Bears $35K Bounty

The cruel hunt of Polar Bears via The Independent

We all know that polar bears are on the brink of extinction, due to global warming and the melting ice caps, this species is having increasingly difficulty hunting for food, swimming long distance and drowning. Scientists say just that alone will bring them to extinction in 50 years, if we don’t act now and reverse the damages. And now in the Arctic Circle, hundreds and thousands of hunters come to hunt for polar bears for $35,000 a head, and they come from all over the world- Mexico, Europe, the U.S, and even Canada’s “Inuit” communities, many of whom hunt their quotas and legally sell them onto outsiders wiling to part with cash.  For some countries, they allow hunters to take polar bear hides back, as long as they have the paperwork. According to the Independent, last year the U.S. banned the importation of polar bear hides but most countries, including Britain, place no restrictions on the skins.

This is more than an unfortunate thing – with these practices still legal, this magnificent species will soon be no more. Without them, seal populations will explode, calling for an excuse for more seal slaughter. Arctic animals will have nothing to scavenge on, with less to eat they too will barely survive. People don’t realize that what we do have an impact on everything, down to very tiny insects on earth, causing a domino effect.

Read the full article here.

Filed under: Global Warming, animal cruelty, environment, hunting, international issues , arctic animals, bounty, Global Warming, hunting, polar bears, seals

A New Dawn For Wildlife – Obama

cover of The Herald

Thanks to all who voted Obama to be our next president. This is a historic moment for the American people as much as for wildlife conservation and the environment. Also with more key environmental leaders now in control of Congress, we hope for a better chance for dialogue and to restore policies that will protect animals, address global warming and the energy crisis in meaningful ways. This is no doubt, one of the biggest victories in our time. Watch this video here, director of Defenders of Wildlife speaks about all this. It’s a new beginning for something great, for humans and animals. Just MAYBE, wolves and polar bears will have a chance. (Sorry Sarah Palin!)

Filed under: Global Warming, environment, friends, humane organizations, international issues, local issues , congress, defenders of wildlife, democratic leadership, environmental leaders, Global Warming, obama

Palin Leaves Polar Bears Out In the Cold

This excerpt from Time.com about Palin says it all so I’m just going to quote it directly. Polar bears are of utmost importance to the Alaskan wilderness that are clearly endangered and disappearing right before our eyes, Palin maintains that polar bears are not worthy of being protected and preserved under the Endangered Species Act. It’s the oil – guys. That’s all she cares about.

polar bear image featured on Time.com by Daniel J. Fox /Corbis

“In January, Sarah Palin wrote in a New York Times op-ed piece, “[polar bears] are worthy of our utmost efforts to protect them and their Arctic habitat. But adding polar bears to the nation’s list of endangered species, as some are now proposing, should not be part of those efforts.” In May, the Alaskan governor opposed the Interior Department’s listing the polar bear as threatened, and prompted the ire of environmentalists and animal rights activists. In August, Palin, who has long advocated opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, rallied her fellow Alaskan officials to sue Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, arguing that extending protection to the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act is unwarranted and will hinder Alaska’s gas industry and offshore drilling development.”

via Time.com

Filed under: Global Warming, animal cruelty, election 2008, local issues , alaskan wilderness, endangered species act, Global Warming, polar bears

Bush/Cheney to Wipe Out Endangered Species Act

Bush and Cheney surprise no one by proposing to do one more bad deed before their presidency ends. With special interest groups these two are pushing to eliminate the Endangered Species Act, which for more than 30 years, worked painstakingly to protect and preserve wildlife that have been decreasing in numbers. These animals include the polar bears, whales, wolves, among many 1,400 other species.  Also reported by Defenders of Wildlife: “The Bush/Cheney proposal would block federal agencies from considering the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on polar bears and other animals threatened by global warming.”

Speak out now at this link which gets sent directly to your local government and stop the assault on the most important law enacted on behalf of wildlife of this earth. Thank you!

Filed under: Global Warming, Take Action, international issues , cheney, endangered species act, Global Warming, polar bears, president bush, Take Action, whales, wildlife preservation, wolves

Arctic Drilling

President Bush called on Congress to lift a long-standing ban on U.S. offshore oil drilling. With global warming so apparent and urgent this is clearly bad. Alaska has been under long debate for years for open drilling. Although shot down by Congress numerous times, those in favor of domestic oil are getting closer to victory.

If you don’t get why this is a bad thing, just watch Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”. Global warming is a serious threat to our planet. Drilling in the Arctic would not guarantee to produce a drop of oil for at least 10+ years, while we should be exploring alternative fuels. Drilling will also destroy habitat for the animals, and this will for sure push them into extinction. And so on…

Call on Congress to oppose Big Oil and preserve wildlife. Take action today so you can help safeguard future generations and much of the wonder of our planet.

Filed under: Global Warming, Take Action, international issues, local issues , An Inconvenient Truth, arctic animals, big oil, environment, Global Warming, polar bears, president bush, wildlife

Extinction: Polar Bear

We will miss them when they are gone—and it’s happening, rapidly. With global warming so apparent, arctic animals such as the great Polar Bear is decreasing in numbers more quickly than ever. With the ice caps melting from warmer climate, the arctic-sea ice habitat they completely depend on, polar bears will find it harder to breed. It will be tougher for them hunt for food, hibernate. They will have fewer cubs and less will survive from the shortage of food, their mother’s milk. They will be unable to swim longer distances between the broken ice sheets. They will grow tired and drown. It has been reported more often now that dead polar bears are found in water and land.

Another plight that is facing polar bears is the government loopholes that allows Americans (and other countries) to hunt them in Canada and bring them back to the States, for skin, fur, and as trophies. This is an abomination, since they’re already suffering from the climate change. There is reportedly only 25,000+ of them left around the world (this is a low number) comparing to the millions 50 years ago.

While many people feel that there are other more important issues to think about– this one must not be ignored. Global warming affects us all, as we know already—the more ice caps melt, the sooner and more definite, our waterfront cities will be immersed by sea-rising oceans. Polar bears are on the top of the food chain, and when they disappear, the balance of life as we know it will be altered forever. Seal population will rise (yet giving Canada an excuse to hunt them). Arctic foxes and birds will have nothing to scavenge and eventually die too.

As for me, they are just too precious to not give a damn about. We’d miss them when they’re all gone. Read more about this issue here. Do your part to help lessen the effects of global warming, and keep informed.

Filed under: hunting, international issues , extinction, Global Warming, hunting, IFAW, polar bears