I just heard on the news that the USFWS is voting this afternoon on whether to change the listing of the Polar Bear or not. If so that will stop all importing of Polar Bears again. We should be able to here something this afternoon or tomorrow.

The proposal is to list Polar Bears as "threatened", not "endangered". Different standards apply to each category. I do not know whether listing as "threatened" necessarily prohibits importation or not.

The threat to polar bears is from retreating ice, which for a variety of reasons diminishes their food supply. It has very little to do with either sport or subsistance hunting; unfortunately, if the numbers of individuals are diminished due to other factors, then hunting which would otherwise not significantly impact the population becomes a factor.

Ironically, the retreating ice is also drastically altering the nesting habitat for snow geese which is what has made such an incredible boom in their population.

But remember, the official line from the Bush administration is that "we're not sure if there is such a thing as global warming".

The Chicago Trib said the proposal was to list them as endangered