Global News - November 2007

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Canadian hunting policies could hit polar bear mating

Tue 27 November 2007 13:15 UK — North America,Bears

Hunting policies that encourage the killing of male polar bears in order to conserve the number of female bears could make it harder for the animals to find a mate, according to a new report.

A team from the University of Alberta discovered that the Canadian government's policy of advising hunters to target male polar bears has resulted in a reduction in the number of males compared to females across the Canadian Arctic.

The researchers identified a critical threshold for the male-to-female bear ratio, after which point there would be a significant decline in fertilisation rates.

"A sudden and rapid reproductive collapse could occur if the sex ratio drops below a critical threshold. This threshold depends on local bear densities, and must therefore be evaluated separately for each population," explained Peter Molnar, lead author of the study.

"Currently observed high litter production rates despite reduced male numbers should not be taken as evidence that populations are secure," he added.

Earlier this year, the US Geological Survey warned that two-thirds of the world's wild population of polar bears will be gone by 2050, The Star reported, with only isolated pockets of bears in the High Arctic regions of Canada and western Greenland remaining.

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