Friday, May 16, 2008

"This species is not endangered."


Alaskan leaders react to listing of Polar Bears as threatened species.

"I am disappointed and disturbed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to weaken the Endangered Species Act by listing the polar bear as threatened despite the steady increase in the species’ population. Scientists have observed that there are now three times as many polar bears in the Arctic than there were in the 1970s."

"Never before has a species been listed as endangered or threatened while occupying its entire geographic range."

"This decision was made without any research demonstrating dangerously low population levels in polar bears, but rather on speculation regarding how ice levels will affect Arctic wildlife. Worse yet, today’s decision cannot and will not do anything to reverse sea ice decline."

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