Polar bears are so plentiful they have become a nuisance, says a Department of Environment report. New data contradict repeated claims by then-Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and others that bears were victims of climate change, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“Science and Inuit Quajimajatuquangit (traditional knowledge) are now observing higher numbers of polar bears and the management goals are more focused on maintaining or reducing numbers in communities and sensitive areas, i.e. bird colonies,” said a department report Species At Risk In Nunavut..“Inuit are concerned about this increasing number of encounters and property damage by polar bears,” said the report. “This may be due to a combination of factors including rising population numbers in some areas and a reduction in sea ice duration and extent.”.The bear population numbers up to 16,000 in the territories, Labrador and northern Manitoba and Québec. Canada spends $1.7 million a year monitoring the bears, wrote researchers. The polar bear in 2011 was listed as a “special concern” under the Species At Risk Act though annual hunts remain legal in Canada under quotas set by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board..The environment department had repeatedly called the health of polar bears proof that climate change is catastrophic..“If greenhouse gas emissions remain unchecked then it is highly likely that we’ll lose every polar bear population in the world before the end of the century,” then-Minister McKenna tweeted in 2020. “Devastating but should motivate us for more ambitious climate action!”.McKenna in 2017 retweeted a National Geographic photo of an emaciated polar bear. “THIS is what climate change looks like,” wrote McKenna. “Climate change is real as are its impacts. Time to stand up for our polar bears and our planet.”.False claims of declining bear populations date from the Academy Award-winning 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. The former US vice president said bears were drowning in melting sea ice. “They are finding polar bears that have actually drowned swimming long distances, up to 60 miles, to find the ice,” said Gore..The World Wildlife Fund described polar bears as “the poster child for the impacts of climate change on species.” A Fund report Polar Bear concluded: “Their dependence on sea ice makes them highly vulnerable to a changing climate. Polar bears rely heavily on the sea ice environment.”.The latest Department of Environment research confirms repeated assertions by Inuit groups that polar bear populations were growing. “Nunavik Inuit report it is rare to see a skinny bear,” the Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife Board wrote in a 2019 Federal Court affidavit in support of hunting quotas..“Nunavik residents have observed an increase in the polar bear population and a particularly notable increase since the 1980s,” wrote the Board director of wildlife management. “Inuit have not noticed a significant decline in the health of the polar bears.”
Polar bears are so plentiful they have become a nuisance, says a Department of Environment report. New data contradict repeated claims by then-Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and others that bears were victims of climate change, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“Science and Inuit Quajimajatuquangit (traditional knowledge) are now observing higher numbers of polar bears and the management goals are more focused on maintaining or reducing numbers in communities and sensitive areas, i.e. bird colonies,” said a department report Species At Risk In Nunavut..“Inuit are concerned about this increasing number of encounters and property damage by polar bears,” said the report. “This may be due to a combination of factors including rising population numbers in some areas and a reduction in sea ice duration and extent.”.The bear population numbers up to 16,000 in the territories, Labrador and northern Manitoba and Québec. Canada spends $1.7 million a year monitoring the bears, wrote researchers. The polar bear in 2011 was listed as a “special concern” under the Species At Risk Act though annual hunts remain legal in Canada under quotas set by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board..The environment department had repeatedly called the health of polar bears proof that climate change is catastrophic..“If greenhouse gas emissions remain unchecked then it is highly likely that we’ll lose every polar bear population in the world before the end of the century,” then-Minister McKenna tweeted in 2020. “Devastating but should motivate us for more ambitious climate action!”.McKenna in 2017 retweeted a National Geographic photo of an emaciated polar bear. “THIS is what climate change looks like,” wrote McKenna. “Climate change is real as are its impacts. Time to stand up for our polar bears and our planet.”.False claims of declining bear populations date from the Academy Award-winning 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. The former US vice president said bears were drowning in melting sea ice. “They are finding polar bears that have actually drowned swimming long distances, up to 60 miles, to find the ice,” said Gore..The World Wildlife Fund described polar bears as “the poster child for the impacts of climate change on species.” A Fund report Polar Bear concluded: “Their dependence on sea ice makes them highly vulnerable to a changing climate. Polar bears rely heavily on the sea ice environment.”.The latest Department of Environment research confirms repeated assertions by Inuit groups that polar bear populations were growing. “Nunavik Inuit report it is rare to see a skinny bear,” the Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife Board wrote in a 2019 Federal Court affidavit in support of hunting quotas..“Nunavik residents have observed an increase in the polar bear population and a particularly notable increase since the 1980s,” wrote the Board director of wildlife management. “Inuit have not noticed a significant decline in the health of the polar bears.”
