On Aug 29, 2008, at 8:44 PM, Kevin Callahan wrote: > > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05palin.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin > > > This month, the secretary of the interior is expected to rule on > whether polar bears should be listed under the Endangered Species > Act. I strongly believe that adding them to the list is the wrong > move at this time. My decision is based on a comprehensive review by > state wildlife officials of scientific information from a broad > range of climate, ice and polar bear experts. > > The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, has > argued that global warming and the reduction of polar ice severely > threatens the bears’ habitat and their existence. In fact, there is > insufficient evidence that polar bears are in danger of becoming > extinct within the foreseeable future — the trigger for protection > under the Endangered Species Act. And there is no evidence that > polar bears are being mismanaged through existing international > agreements and the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act >
Well, the fact is that they are not by any stretch of the imagine endangered. Endangered Species n. A species present in such small numbers that it is at risk of extinction. By that measure Polar Bears or simply not endangered. "In the Davis Strait area, a 140,000-square kilometre region, the polar bear population has grown from 850 in the mid-1980s to 2,100 today. "There aren't just a few more bears. There are a hell of a lot more bears," said Mitch Taylor, a polar bear biologist who has spent 20 years studying the animals." <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1545036/Polar-bears-'thriving-as-the-Arctic-warms-up'.html > You could argue "threatened" as that means a species that is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. I'd disagree, but that is the closest fit if you must find some reason to hug the polar bears. The Iniut were just given increased polor bear hunting limits. Not something you do for even a threatened critter. Trying to move them to the endangered list was purely P.C. Bull without any basis. =c= _______________________________________________ OSX-Nutters mailing list | [email protected] http://lists.tit-wank.com/mailman/listinfo/osx-nutters List hosted at http://cat5.org/
