WINNIPEG - Canada's polar bears are not teetering on the brink of extinction and don't need the alarmist rhetoric coming from some of the world's biologists, some Inuit experts said Friday at a one-day summit to discuss the fate of the arctic mammals.
While scientists warned vanishing sea ice and over-hunting means two-thirds of the iconic predators could be gone within 50 years, the people who have shared "a personal relationship" with polar bears for thousands of years say the threat is exaggerated.
"The current population is stable. It is not constructive to exaggerate the situation," said Gabriel Nirlungayuk, director of wildlife at Nunavut Tunngavik in Rankin Inlet.
"The Inuit share our land with the polar bear. We use the polar bear as a resource. It is important for our diet and our culture. We respect the polar bears. It is in our legend and we want to continue preserving this species."
Some 50 years ago, Nirlungayuk said there were only about 8,000 polar bears in Canada. Now, he said there are just over 15,000.
Nirlungayuk said his grandfather used to hunt polar bears without any government tags telling him where and what to hunt. Now, Nirlungayuk said he needs a permit. Biologists only study polar bears for several months of the year, he said. Inuit have been living side-by-side with the hulking mammals for centuries.
"Because of the population increase . . . we have to watch out for these animals coming into our camps," he told the gathering of scientists, politicians and Inuit leaders in Winnipeg.
"Forty or 50 years ago, these campsites were not invaded by these animals. But now they are. Inuit have a personal relationship with the polar bears and we want to continue to manage these bears."
But scientists say polar bears won't be around for long unless bold action is taken to curb climate change, over-hunting and industrial activity in the North.
Peter Ewins, with the World Wildlife Fund, told the meeting sea ice is thawing at an alarming rate, putting polar bears at grave risk. Like Tigers in Asia, Ewins said polar bears are a species that have evolved to fit their harsh habitat. The sea ice is crucial for mating and helping them bulk up on fat for the summer, he said.
The spring ice thaw now happens three weeks earlier than it did in the 1970s giving the bears less time to fatten up and rear their young, Ewins said. Without the loss of sea ice, Ewins said polar bears lose weight, have fewer babies and clash with humans more often.
"The main problem is vanishing sea ice habitat for polar bears, widely accepted now as being driven mainly by human-induced, rapid climate change and our use of fossil fuels," Ewins told the gathering.
The government needs to protect polar bear habitat by curbing industrial activity in the North, giving some polar bear populations a chance to recover by limiting hunting and by taking the threat of climate change seriously, he said.
Federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice, who is chairing the meeting, is mulling over whether to designate polar bears as species of "special concern."
The polar bear is a vital part of the arctic economy and Inuit culture, he said. But the bear has also become a symbol of climate change, Prentice added.
"We all have a vested interest to protect the polar bear," he said in his opening remarks. "The status of the polar bear is in the hands of many . . . Ultimately, we must all work together."
