The Humane Society of the United States praises the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and especially its recognition of the need to stop the import of hundreds of sport-hunted polar bear trophies from Canada.
"We are grateful to the federal government for recognizing that polar bears need protection, including from wealthy American trophy hunters who shoot these rare creatures for nothing more than a headhunting exercise," said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The HSUS. "Hopefully this closes the chapter on the ugly loophole which was punched through the Marine Mammal Protection Act more than a decade ago, and now restores the longstanding prohibition on importing polar bear heads and hides."
From the time the Marine Mammal Protection Act was amended (after lobbying by the Safari Club International and trophy hunting interests), there have been more than 800 polar bear trophies imported by American trophy hunters.
This cruel and inhumane behavior was especially appalling given that the polar bear populations are facing threats to their survival due to such factors as climate change, shrinking ice floes, and declining body weights.
This decision effectively accomplishes the same goal as the Polar Bear Protection Act, which The HSUS has aggressively advocated for in Congress. The Polar Bear Protection Act (H.R. 2327/S. 1406), introduced by Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) and Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Jack Reed (D-RI), sought to close the 1994 loophole and restore the original intent of the MMPA.
Last year, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed language offered by Reed that would have stopped imports of polar bear trophies, but that language was not included in the final omnibus appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008.
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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization — backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty — On the web at humanesociety.org.
