Wildlife officials are meeting in the province of Quebec to discuss quotas on the world’s last unregulated polar bear hunt. Hunters are currently allowed to kill bears from the south Hudson Bay population and have agreed to a voluntary limit of 60 bears a year.
While that population of bears is healthy now, some scientists say climate change is starting to have a negative impact on it and there should be lower, official quotas.
Aboriginal communities say they are not willing to reduce their take.
Disagreement over risk
There is much controversy about the health of polar bear populations in Canada. Some conservationists say the bears are endangered, but scientists say some polar bear populations are doing fine.
The internationals community is scrutinizing Canada’s polar bear management with one leading scientist saying establishing quotas at the current level will harm Canada’s credibility.
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