{"id":237985,"date":"2023-01-05T20:04:53","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T19:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=237985"},"modified":"2023-01-05T20:05:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T19:05:00","slug":"inuit-in-arctic-canada-now-observing-higher-numbers-of-polar-bears-says-government-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=237985","title":{"rendered":"Inuit in Arctic Canada now observing higher numbers of polar bears, says government report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From polarbearscience<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2021 publication by the government of Canada released last month called\u00a0Species at Risk<\/em>\u00a0in Nunavut<\/em><\/a>\u00a0says the region is \u201cnow observing higher numbers of polar bears<\/em>\u201c, and that management goals are \u201cmore focused on maintaining or reducing numbers in communities and in sensitive areas (i.e. bird colonies)<\/em>\u201c. Local Inuit are said to be \u201cconcerned about the increasing number of encounters and property damages<\/em>\u201d caused by polar bears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Polar bear in Arviat, Nunavut, 3 October 2022. Chris Mikijuniak photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polar bears in Canada are considered a species of \u2018special concern\u2019<\/a> (COSEWIC 2018), not threatened as they are in the USA. See the map of Nunavut below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polar bear specialists insist that more encounters with bears in recent years are due to a decline in sea-ice duration and extent<\/a> compared to the 1980s plus more attractants like garbage dumps<\/a> near Arctic communities (e.g. Smith et al. 2022; Wilder et al. 2017).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They steadfastly refuse to acknowledge that an increased number of bears compared to the 1970s is also a factor in many regions, as bear numbers continue to rebound from the effects of overhunting (Crockford 2019, 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, no mention is ever made of the fact that more adult males in many populations\u2013a direct result of hunting restrictions or outright bans\u2013puts\u00a0competitive stress on young bears<\/a>\u00a0who may then cause a wide variety of problems out of desperation.\u00a0Problems include<\/a>\u00a0many near-miss encounters,\u00a0fatal and non-fatal attack<\/a>s, and extensive property damage (including ruined snow machines, see below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back in the 1980s, seeing more polar bears meant there were actually more bears around<\/a>. But now, scientists insist that seeing more bears means there are fewer bears because of less sea ice\u2013and that these bears are attracted to human habitations because they are desperate for food (i.e., more conflicts due to a \u201cshortage of ice\u201d<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The logic of this is often hard to fathom, especially when many serious problems with bears occur when sea ice is abundant<\/a>, including the 2018 fatal attack in Foxe Basin<\/a> that required an ice breaker to rescue the survivors (Crockford 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a quote<\/a> from a Labrador polar bear safety guide from 2019 that simply makes sense:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more people you have out on the land and the more bears you have, the higher potential you have for a bear-human encounter.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems to me that Inuit in Nunavut are quite right to be concerned about rising polar bear numbers, regardless of what\u2019s happening with sea ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report<\/a> says (pg. 23):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first harvest restrictions were imposed in the 1960s. Since then, the Polar Bear has been an iconic species at risk on a national and international scale, creating additional pressure to conserve the species. However, science and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ ) are now observing higher numbers of Polar Bears, and the management goals are more focused on maintaining or reducing numbers in communities and in sensitive areas (i.e. bird colonies). Inuit are concerned about the increasing number of encounters and property damages by Polar Bears; 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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada). 2018.<\/strong> COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Polar Bear Ursus maritimus<\/em> in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. PDF<\/strong> here<\/a>. https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/environment-climate-change\/services\/species-risk-public-registry\/cosewic-assessments-status-reports\/polar-bear-2018.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crockford, S.J. 2019<\/strong>. The Polar Bear Catastrophe That Never Happened<\/em>. Global Warming Policy Foundation, London. Available in paperback<\/a> and ebook<\/a> formats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crockford, S.J. 2020.<\/strong> State of the Polar Bear Report 2019. Global Warming Policy Foundation Report 39, London. PDF<\/strong> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environment and Climate Change Canada 2021<\/strong>. Species at Risk in Nunavut 2021<\/em>. Iqualuit, NU. https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/environment-climate-change\/services\/species-risk-education-centre\/species-risk-nunavut-2021<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith, T.S., Derocher, A.E., Mazur, R.L., et al. 2022.<\/strong> Anthropogenic food: an emerging threat to polar bears. Oryx<\/em>, in press. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/S0030605322000278<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilder, J.M., Vongraven, D., Atwood, T., et al. 2017.<\/strong> Polar bear attacks on humans: implications of a changing climate. Wildlife Society Bulletin<\/em> 41(3):537-547. http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/wsb.783\/full<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The more people you have out on the land and the more bears you have, the higher potential you have for a bear-human encounter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":237993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-237985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","9":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-183.png?fit=1900%2C1152&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-ZUt","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":284598,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=284598","url_meta":{"origin":237985,"position":0},"title":"Polar Bear Shock: \u2018Vanishing\u2019 Animals Not Killed by Climate Change But Have Just Migrated, Says Scientist","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/22\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Polar bears is no longer a symbol of climate change. 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