Canada is the only country in the world where polar bears are hunted for sport and commercial trade purposes. Each year, between 500-600 Canadian polar bears are killed for their fur (and parts) to be sold on the international market. Increasing polar bear pelt prices and trade, coupled with global warming, is a clear and real threat to Canada’s polar bears.
To help protect the polar bear, the United States (backed by Russia) are once again pushing for an international ban on the trade of polar bear pelts and parts. This March, nations belonging to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) will meet to consider adding new animals to the convention’s list of endangered species.
If polar bears are added to that list, it would mean an end to the Canadian-only business of selling polar bear pelts and parts internationally. According to the National Resources Defence Council, a listing of the polar bear on CITES Appendix I will not affect the ability of native peoples to continue to use polar bears. The listing will only stop the international commercial trade in polar bears and their parts. International commercial trade is not a subsistence activity.
TAKE ACTION
Please sign our online petition!
Please call on U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron to lead the European Union to a YES vote that will end the deadly trafficking in polar bears once and for all.
Email: https://email.number10.gov.uk/Contact.aspx
Write:
Prime Minister David Cameron
10 Downing Street
London, England
SW1A 2AA
For more information contact:
Natural Resources Defense Council
Listen to the CBC interview – “Should polar bears be banned from international trade?”
