New research suggests Canadian polar bear hunting policies could be pushing populations of the iconic Arctic predator toward sudden, steep declines.
Heating up an intense debate over the fate of an animal that has come to symbolize climate change, a paper published Wednesday in the London, England-based Proceedings of the Royal Society suggests that the bears' ability to maintain their numbers depends in part on their male-female split.Â
The report is likely to heat up the debate over what's happening with polar bear populations, a battlefield on which many different groups have marshalled arguments.
Scientists say two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be gone by 2050 as melting sea ice slowly robs them of their habitat.
Animal rights activists such as the U.S. Humane Society have used those statements to argue for a ban on sport-hunting.