Polar bears are important to Indigenous peoples and are an essential part of the fight against climate change. Learn more.
Polar bears matter. Not simply because this iconic species plays a vital role in maintaining Arctic ecosystems, but so too because of the roles they play in human life.
Polar bears are the largest land carnivore and considered one of the world’s most apex predator. Because of this, polar bears are essential in maintaining Arctic and marine ecosystems, keeping biological populations in balance. Without polar bears controlling seal populations, marine life would become impacted, threatening crustacean and fish populations, which are vital sources of food for local human populations.
By protecting the polar bear’s habitat, we in turn protect many more species, including our own. Over 4 million people live in the Arctic, including 40 different ethnic groups. For Northern Indigenous peoples, living off the land is vital. Polar bears and the ecosystems they help maintain allow these communities to survive. For example, while legal harvesting of polar bear continues on a quota basis, for some communities, these hunts remain a significant part of cultural traditions and source of nutrition.
But these lands, even the ones we walk on, are changing. As commercial activity (particularly, oil and gas exploration and development) becomes more accessible, Arctic ecosystems and polar bear homes are being uprooted. Coupled with record-breaking sea ice melts due to global warming, polar bears are forced to wander further into territories that puts them even more at risk — those where humans live.
For many of us, polar bears may appear to be animals which live in a world far from our own. But we, like everything else, are connected in more ways than meets the eye. This INTERNATIONAL POLAR BEAR DAY, it’s important to recognize these connections, and act to protect polar bears so they can continue to protect us.
