A Good Day for Polar Bears
posted by: Rebecca Young 37 days ago
You spoke, and finally, the U.S. government listened. Over 6,000 Care2 members joined with activists throughout the country to send public comments to the Department of the Interior supporting a proposal to end the international polar bear trade. The comment deadline was September 11th, and late last week, DOI announced it agreed with all of you.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has submitted this proposal to be considered during the upcoming meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The U.S. proposes to "uplist" the polar bear from CITES Appendix II to Appendix I, which prohibits all international trade in the listed species, "due to current and anticipated future habitat loss due to climate change."
In non-wonky terms, the U.S. is putting a proposal on the international table to stop polar bear trophy hunting and trade in polar bear body parts. Since we can’t yet seem to get our elected representatives to join the world in trying to end global warming and stop polar bears' homes from melting, at least we can try to get the global community to agree to stop people from killing polar bears to make rugs, aphrodisiacs and wall trophies.
"By strengthening protections for polar bears under CITES, we can give the polar bear some relief while we take the necessary steps to combat global warming," said Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen.
Every year as many as 100 polar bears are killed in Canada by sport hunters, according to Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Wetzler has documented the number of polar bears affected by the international polar bear trade and why we need to stop it.
Canadian Care2 members, your voices will be key in the coming months. As Wetzler explains, Canada is the only country that allows both trophy hunting and commercial trade in polar bears, and Canada is home to two-thirds of the polar bears on the planet. And the Canadian polar bear populations are some of the most stable, making strengthening the protection of these bears all the more important to the species' survival.
So stay tuned for more news as we get closer to the March CITES Convention, and in the meantime, thank you again for speaking out for polar bears!
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has submitted this proposal to be considered during the upcoming meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The U.S. proposes to "uplist" the polar bear from CITES Appendix II to Appendix I, which prohibits all international trade in the listed species, "due to current and anticipated future habitat loss due to climate change."
In non-wonky terms, the U.S. is putting a proposal on the international table to stop polar bear trophy hunting and trade in polar bear body parts. Since we can’t yet seem to get our elected representatives to join the world in trying to end global warming and stop polar bears' homes from melting, at least we can try to get the global community to agree to stop people from killing polar bears to make rugs, aphrodisiacs and wall trophies.
"By strengthening protections for polar bears under CITES, we can give the polar bear some relief while we take the necessary steps to combat global warming," said Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen.
Every year as many as 100 polar bears are killed in Canada by sport hunters, according to Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Wetzler has documented the number of polar bears affected by the international polar bear trade and why we need to stop it.
Canadian Care2 members, your voices will be key in the coming months. As Wetzler explains, Canada is the only country that allows both trophy hunting and commercial trade in polar bears, and Canada is home to two-thirds of the polar bears on the planet. And the Canadian polar bear populations are some of the most stable, making strengthening the protection of these bears all the more important to the species' survival.
So stay tuned for more news as we get closer to the March CITES Convention, and in the meantime, thank you again for speaking out for polar bears!
Read more: success, polar bears, environment & wildlife
comments
A day worth remembering and giving hope for more successes.
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a reward for all of our hard work. good job guys
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: D happyyyy!!!
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Thanks for letting us know about this, Rebecca. Hopefully, it will actually happen!
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This made my day!
Ooh and, Happy halloween ^^ .
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Yeah, wonderful news!!!
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Great news!
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I'm so happy to have opened my mail today! Except for the news of laws being passed to protect children, I'm glad to know laws are being passed to protect God's creators!
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Hope this goes through, I'm glad I voted will keep votig on the things that matter to me. Wildlife, pets, health issues, and politics. We must work together to, finally, improve our country and our world.
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really a nice feeling of accomplishment. But I have been there on "The Front Line", and outside the USA, the government is powerless against the slaughter in trade of the furs and organs. I would not pop the bottle top yet, until ALL of the Nations that are the END USERS of the products made from the animals stop using them and it would be a better idea to show them a replacement product that does not involve killing animals such as "gree" synthetic "fur", and other methods to make the "need" for the bears a moot point? Do you agree?
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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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