ARE THE POLAR BEARS OF THE ARCTIC ENDANGERED?

Take your students into polar bear country - the cold areas of the Arctic. See where the polar bears live and find out the physical challenges they face. They are adapted to the rather inhospitable environment. In some areas they are managing to maintain their numbers. In most areas they are decreasing in numbers. Over most of the vast Arctic areas their numbers are not really known. Find out the problems they face in the Svalbard Islands, on the shores of Scoresby Sund in Greenland and at Churchill in northern Canada - the reputed polar bear capital of the world. Use the photographs and maps to help with the recognition of issues (local and global) affecting polar bears. Understand why the Inuit bear hunters of Greenland have been given a quota of bears to kill each year. Behind the problems is the global issue which is affecting the sustainability of polar bear numbers. The attachments provide opportunity for debate and summary of the of polar bear situations. The question at the end has been deliberately left open for student opinion and decision.