[Michael L. Love: proclus on Blogger] Stop the Polar Bear Rug Trade

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Polar bears are in big trouble from accelerating Arctic warming and a vanishing sea-ice habitat. This year's skyrocketing fur prices and trophy hunting are also taking a devastating toll. Polar bear sport-hunting and the trophy trade are prohibited in the United States, but the international trade in polar bear parts is alive and well.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now deciding whether it will move to protect polar bears under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. At the last round of CITES negotiations, the Service led the charge to ban all commercial trade in polar bear parts -- a move Canada blocked. The agency is now "undecided" on its position for the upcoming CITES meeting.

Canada still kills around 500 bears annually and leads the world in exporting rugs and hunting trophies. As polar bear numbers plummet under pressure from climate change, the Canadian territory of Nunavut quadrupled its hunting quota this season.

Tell the Service to take a stand against this excessive killing, stop the international trade in their parts and lead the world in polar bear protection.

Take action by using this Web address: http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10286

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Posted By Blogger to Michael L. Love: proclus on Blogger at 4/25/2012 11:01:00 AM