Rising Polar Bear Numbers in Canadian North Prompting Management Measures, Says Federal Department

A file photo shows a young male polar bear in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area, Manitoba. (Reuters/Gloria Dickie)

Rising numbers of polar bears in the Canadian north require certain management measures to be taken, according to a federal department, despite past reports that the animal’s extinction is drawing near.

“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),” said the Environment Department in a report called “Species at risk in Nunavut 2021,” which was last updated in December 2022.

“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,” the document noted, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The department also said that the first polar bear harvesting restrictions were implemented in 1960 and that the animal has been “an iconic species at risk on a national and international scale” since then.

The report made reference to the “Nunavut Polar Bear Co-Management Plan,“ which says that measures over the last 50 years to restore polar bear numbers in areas where they had become scarce have ”largely been achieved.”

“The focus of polar bear management now shifts to maintaining, or reducing numbers in areas where public safety is a concern and/or where there are detrimental effects on the ecosystem due to increased numbers of polar bears,” says the plan, which dates from October 2016.

“Inuit hunter observations indicate that polar bear numbers have increased from the population lows of the 1950s and 60s. This is confirmed by scientific studies on Most Nunavut subpopulations.”

The co-management plan goes on to address conflicting views of the issue between Inuit and outside observations, which it summarizes as pressure by environmental organizations and “climate change advocates” to conserve polar bear populations.

“Inuit believe there are now so many bears that public safety has become a major concern,” it said.

The federal environment department had repeatedly warned that climate change is threatening the polar bear population.

“If greenhouse gas emissions remain unchecked then it is highly likely that we’ll lose every polar bear population in the world before the end of the century,” former Environment Minister Catherine McKenna tweeted in 2020, quoting a news article on the subject. “Devastating but should motivate us for more ambitious climate action!”