US proposes listing polar bears as threatened species

Washington, Dec 28 (UNI) The United States proposes to list the polar bear as a threatened species because of their shrinking Arctic ice habitat.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne who made this announcement yesterday said the US Fish and Wildlife Service would use the next 12 months to gather more information, undertake additional analyses, and assess the reliability of relevant scientific models before making a final decision whether to list the species.

''Polar bears are one of nature's ultimate survivors, able to live and thrive in one of the world's harshest environments,'' Kempthorne said. ''But we are concerned the polar bears' habitat may literally be melting.'' Canada's western Hudson Bay polar bear numbers have dropped 22 per cent and Alaskan polar bears may be suffering the same pressures. He, however, said ''their population decline is not yet statistically significant.'' ''Polar bears are one of nature's ultimate survivors,'' he said. ''They are able to live and thrive in one of the world's harshest environments, but there is concern that their habitat may literally be melting. I, like all Americans, support conservation of the polar bear and will work in partnership on measures to achieve this goal.'' The US government decision is the result of a suit by three environmental groups, who argued that the Bush administration was slow to respond to the polar bear's plight. The government's announcement meets a deadline ordered by the court.

Environmentalists hope that the Bush administration's concession might lead it to step up efforts to reduce emissions of the so-called greenhouse gases blamed for warming the atmosphere and oceans.

''This is a watershed decision in terms of way we deal with global warming in this country,'' said Kassie Siegel, a lawyer at one of the environmental organisations that sued the US government, the Center for Biological Diversity.

''The science of global warming in the Arctic and the impact to polar bears is so clear that not even the Bush administration can any longer deny the science. This is the first major acknowledgment from the Bush administration and it's very encouraging, because we now have to move forward very rapidly to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.'' UNI XC SBA VP0717