Polar Bear Trade Ban Could Save Species, But Ruin Economy

Polar bears have received a lot of attention lately. They're slowly being driven to extinction as global warming takes its toll, melting crucial ice packs that allow them access to seals, their primary food source. Now, these bears are at the center of a heated debate. An attempt to ban the international trade in polar bear parts has provoked a battle at the CITES conservation meeting in Bangkok.

So what exactly is the debate about? Conservationists argue that the ban is crucial for the survival of the species, yet Canada's Inuit are firmly against the proposal. They point out that the trade is critical to their economic survival, and argue that the trade should continue.

Canada is the only country that permits the export of polar bear parts. Each year, about 600 of these bears are killed by native hunters. About 300 of these pelts are then sold for rugs while fangs and paws are exported. Since the hunters receive an average of $4,850 per pelt, the Inuit argue that removing the trade would result in a massive hit to their economy.

"It's a means of livelihood for Inuit in villages and communities that do't have a lot of other means for economic opportunities," said Terry Audla, head of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) in an interview with Reuters.

Currently, there are only about 25,000 polar bears left in the world. About 16,000 of those thrive in the Canadian Arctic. Of the 19 known polar bear groups in the wild, though, researchers have only accurately been able to survey seven. Yet the numbers of the known populations are dropping rapidly. The population in the Southern Beaufort Sea, for example, has been studied each spring using capture and recapture methods. Yet in 2006, researchers surveying the population found that the bears were significantly more stressed than the bears that were surveyed 20 years prior. The cubs had a lower survival rate overall and lower body weight than their ancestors.

Both Russia and the U.S. are now pushing for this ban on trade. Russia in particular argues that the legal export trade from Canada is being taken advantage of by criminals who use false Canadian permits to export the pelts from about 200 Russian bears each year.

The fate of the polar bears, though, is currently uncertain. CITES is planning to vote on the issue on Thursday.