Hudson Bay polar bears doing okay, survey finds

IQALUIT, NUNAVUT— Nunavut says a new survey shows Canada’s polar bear population hasn’t significantly declined in the last seven years as predicted and that the iconic mammal has not been hurt by climate change.

An aerial survey done in August by the Nunavut government, in response to pressure from Inuit, estimated the western Hudson Bay bear population at around 1,000.

That’s about the same number of bears found in a more detailed study done in 2004. That study, which physically tagged the bears, predicted the number would decline to about 650 by 2011.

Last year’s survey found fewer cubs — about 50 — than in previous years, but officials say the new figures show the “doom-and-gloom” predictions of environmentalists about the demise of the polar bear have failed to come true.

“People have tried to use the polar bear as a bit of a poster child — it’s a beautiful animal and it grabs the attention of the public — to make people aware of the impact of climate change,” said Drikus Gissing, Nunavut’s director of wildlife management.

“We are not observing these impacts right at this moment in time.”

Environmentalists have warned the bears are under serious threat as climate change melts sea ice, giving the animals less time to bulk up on fatty seal meat. Canada is home to about two-thirds of the world’s polar bears, but environmental experts say climate change could make the Hudson Bay population extinct within a few decades.

Inuit hunters have insisted the population is healthy.