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There are several reasons why polar bears are in danger. One reason is that the bears are killed by Eskimos and the Inuit. They use the meat to feed the dogs, and their hides are used for clothes and boots. They also use their feet and claws for jewelry. To protect the bears, all hunters need to have a license to be able to hunt. Because the price of the polar bear's skin is about $1,000 to $3,000 each, some people are killing polar bears without a license.Another reason they are threatened is because the polar bear's habitat is taken over by people. More people are arriving in the Arctic ,and a lot of mother bears are leaving their cubs. About 50 bears were killed just because people have been working in industry in the territories of Canada.Oil spills are another reason why the number of polar bears is dropping. The black oil is making it so a polar bear can't control his body temperature and that could kill the bear.Also black oil freezes in the ice and then when it absorbs heat from the sun, the ice melts so the bears cannot walk on the ice.Today there are laws to protect the population of polar bears. In Alaska they can only kill 100 polar bears every year . In Greenland they can only kill 100 polar bears. In Canada they can only kill 500 polar bears. At this time there are between 22,000 to 27,000 bears with around 15,000 in Canada. The Alaskan population is from 3,000 to 5,000. |