Why does SCI oppose listing polar bears as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act?
SCI opposes listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. Such a listing might prohibit the animals from being killed for trophies. Trophy hunting has decimated polar bears, and in 1972, they were protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. This made it illegal for non-natives to kill the bears in Alaska or for anyone to import sport-hunted polar bears into the country from Canada. SCI fought long and hard for a loophole in the MMPA, which was granted in 1994. It is now legal for trophy hunters to kill the imperiled bears in Canada and ship their hides back to the United States.
