Welcome to Polarbears International
You've found the web's biggest polar bear site! Explore the latest information and research, browse photos of polar bears, and get all the bear facts. Polar Bears International is a non-profit group dedicated to the conservation of the polar bear.
Additional german informations can be found here.
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The IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group held its 14th meeting June 20-24, 2005, in Seattle, Washington. The scientists recommended that the polar bear be reclassified as a Vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List. They stated that the greatest challenge to polar bears may be large scale ecological change resulting from climatic warming. Read the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group press release and their resolutions. |
PBI's extensive polar bear bibliography is up and running, with categories that include everything from scientific papers to popular articles and children's books. The online database allows users to quickly pull up a list of relevant documents through a search function. Funding for this key initiative was provided by a bequest from PBI's founder, the late Dan Guravich, with additional funding from his widow, Marcia Guravich. More... |
Further Articles
On Thin Ice
Polar bears could become extinct by the end of the century if present warming trends continue in the Arctic, according to a report issued in November by the Arctic Council and the International Arctic Science Committee.
What’s New in Climate Change
The Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The conservation group filed the petition on the same day that the Kyoto Protocol went into effect without the participation of the United States.
Science Camp Student Essays
Last October, PBI launched the Polar Bear Science Camp, an extension of our highly successful Adventure Learning Program, a distant-learning project started in cooperation with the Tundra Buggy Adventure in 2003. The pilot phase of the camp featured nine high school students from four different countries who traveled to Churchill, Manitoba, to learn about polar bears and to work alongside polar bear researchers. Upon their return, the students wrote essays about the experience and their future plans.
Polar Bear Cam Highlights!
Churchill's famous polar bear migration has ended for the year, but you can view season highlights from our Polar Bear Cam, a joint effort with the Tundra Buggy Adventure. We wish the bears a good year as they scatter to hunt seals on the ice, breaking their months-long fast.
Mapping Dens in the ANWR
This summer, PBI funded a mapping project of polar bear maternity dens in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)--an important first step in protecting the sensitive areas where polar bears may den. National Geographic photographer Daniel J. Cox took part in the effort and submitted this report.
Beaufort Sea Census
PBI has assisted in funding a major polar bear population study in the southern Beaufort Sea, a territory that spans Canada and Alaska. Two teams of scientists, one headed by Dr. Steven Amstrup of the U.S. Geological Survey and the other by Dr. Ian Stirling of the Canadian Wildlife Service, are collecting data for the study...