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Polar Bears' Other Threat: $35K Trophy Hunts

Foreign hunters spend thousands to catch dying Artic species

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 27, 2009 6:28 AM CDT

(Newser) – Polar bears, whose Arctic habitat is thawing out, have become the symbols of climate change, but they’re also prime targets for hunters in Canada, where trophy-hungry sportsmen cough up as much as $35,000 to bag a bear, the Independent reports. “This is probably the toughest hunt you can ever do,” said one Canadian guide who leads the wealthy hunters hailing from places as far away as Poland.

Indigenous communities are allotted a killing quota and often sell their “tags” to foreigners, who keep only the hide. Unlike the US, Canada, home to 60% of the world’s 22,000 polar bears, allows outsiders to conduct the trophy hunts. But with two-thirds of the polar bear population projected to be lost by 2050, the practice could prove unsustainable. Nations are now debating new hunting rules.

[Images (4)]

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Polar bear hides cure on the mountainside of the Eskimo village of Little Diomede, Alaska, with Russia's Big Diomede Island on the horizon in this undated file photo. (AP Photo/Al Grillo, FILE)

A polar bear yawns as he lays along the shore of Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)

A polar bear plays on the tundra near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, in this file photo. (AP Photo/CP, Jonathan Hayward)

A polar bear mother and her two cubs cuddle in Wapusk National Park on the shore of Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, in this file photo. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward, File)

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I don't enjoy killing animals but I enjoy the hunt. People find that difficult to understand, but for me there is no paradox. - Boyd Warner, hunter guide

This year we have a lot of Mexicans and Americans but you get hunters from Europe, mainly Norwegians and Poles. They are just genuine, ordinary folk with a lot of cash. They respect the animals enormously. - Boyd Warner, hunter guide

The moment of death comes quickly for the bear. You might track one for days through the ice but a single shot to the heart kills it instantly. - Boyd Warner, hunter guide

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Polar Bears' Other Threat: $35K Trophy Hunts