International

SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard called during a debate on Tuesday in Strasbourg for the EU to ban the commercial trade in polar bears. “Do it before it's too late. This trade, and habitat loss through climate change, represent a major threat to the survival of this species."

Extinction
Kartika Liotard referred to a recent announcement by Rotterdam's Blijdorp Zoo that not a single European zoo has succeeded in breeding polar bears in captivity. "That's bad news," she said during the European Parliament plenary meeting, "especially as polar bears are threatened with extinction." The sea ice is shrinking as a result of climate change and as a consequence the polar bears' habitat is gradually disappearing. "More than 70 per cent of the population in the wild could be gone within forty-five years. In addition the polar bear is threatened by trophy hunters and by trade. People evidently get a kick out of shooting them – disgusting!"

The EU does recognise the problem already, banning the import of polar bears from two specific Canadian populations of the animals.