Urge the Obama administration to protect polar bears worldwide at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Polar bears are protected in the U.S. under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and all five nations that have wild polar bears - the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia - have signed the Polar Bear Treaty. But not every country prohibits trade in polar bear parts, so increased protections under CITES are necessary. The Natural Resources Defense Council explains:
Every year, hunters kill hundreds of polar bears and then sell their parts legally in the international market . . . Polar bears are already struggling for survival. They are mortally threatened by climate change, toxic pollution and oil development. Scientists predict that rising temperatures alone will cause two-thirds of the world's polar bears to go extinct by 2050. We simply can't afford to let commercial hunting and trafficking kill off hundreds of them every year.
What you can do: Fill out the NRDC webform to urge Dan Ashe, Director of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, to propose a ban on the commercial trade in polar bear parts at the next meeting of CITES. Click here.
Paul Souders / Getty Images
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