It should be a crime, dammit.

But hundreds of polar bears are killed by trophy hunters every year.

Even though the very existence of polar bears is on thin ice, their body parts—skins, teeth, claws, skulls—are sold legally in the international market.

Watch this video to learn more…

The polar bear has been sending us a desperate S.O.S. There have been documented reports of polar bears drowning and starving—and of snowy dens collapsing on newborn cubs and their mothers from unseasonable rains. The world no longer has any polar bears to spare—certainly not to end up as a rug in front of a trophy hunter’s fireplace. We have to put a stop to the worldwide commercial trade in polar bear parts.
~ Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., NRDC Senior Attorney

The scientific evidence is overwhelming that rising temperatures will cause two-thirds of the world’s polar bear populations—including all of Alaska’s polar bears—to go extinct by 2050. They are already drowning and starving as a result of melting sea ice. Their populations can’t afford to be hunted simply to meet the international demand for polar bear rugs.

Your Voice Counts!

1. Click here to sign the NRDC petition asking the Obama Administration to propose an urgently-needed ban on the commercial trade in polar bear parts at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Ask the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take this life-saving step!
2. Help spread the word by sharing this on facebook and twitter!

You can also donate to NRDC to help save the polar bears.

Some fun polar bear facts:

Polar bears spend almost their entire life on ice, using the flowing sea ice of the Arctic throughout the seasons to move about, finding food and mates.

Adult male polar bears weigh between 1,300 and 1,700 pounds and adult female polar bears weigh about half that.  Male polar bears measure 8-9 feet from nose to tail and female polar bears measure from 6-7 feet.

Polar bear fur is not white.  It’s translucent (and hollow!), allowing sunlight to reach their black skin.  The reflection of light off their fur is what makes them appear white.

Polar bears are found in only five countries – Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and the United States.

The global polar bear population is about 20,000 – 25,000.

They love to eat ringed seals.

Adapted from my blog, I Count for myEARTH.

~ Like elephant enlightened society on facebook. ~