A couple days ago Michael Markarian of the Humane Society of the US's Animals and Politics blog posted a great article on the Humane Society's efforts to block legislation that would allow the importation of sport-hunted polar bear trophies (hides, heads, etc) from Canada. The crux of the matter seems be that since the 2008 listing of polar bears under the Endangered Species Act some "Great White Hunter"-types who'd rushed in at the last minute were unable to get their trophies home in time. The window closed and now there's apparently some 40+ dead bears sitting in cold storage that Safari Club International members want to bring back to the US so they can display them in their offices or some such barbaric nonsense.
They're now trying to use their political influence through lobbying groups (i.e. Safari Club International) to get the laws relaxed so the dead bears can be imported. If they get what they want we may see the same kind of poaching and black market trading in bear parts that Africa is dealing with in elephant ivory. It's all rather slimy and very, very sad, especially when you realize that through previous hunting and accelerating climate change we could soon be living in a world without polar bears. They could go out forever.
According to Michael's data, polar bear trophy imports more than doubled in 2007 to 112 kills vs the previous year's 52. In the previous fifteen years there were some 900 bears imported, or about 60 kills per year. So, basically, they knew the jig was about up so these bastards collectively ramped up their hunts to get those last few bears in before it was game over.
Think about that for a second. The polar bear was about to be listed as an endangered species because their populations had declined so precipitously that the species as a whole could go extinct. The trophy hunters knew this and instead of voluntarily giving up the hunt to help save them they ratcheted up the killing. And now they even have the gall to claim that hunting the bears helps preserve them. What the hell kind of twisted logic is that?
I guess this sort of behavior shouldn't be surprising, though. Polar bears have been on the receiving end of this kind of blood-lust since time immemorial. When I read Michael's blog posts I immediately recognized the mentality he and the Humane Society were dealing with. Just days prior I'd read the following account in Derrick Jensen's endgame where one Captain George Cartwright, the famous 18th century English explorer and trader in early Newfoundland, recounts his (Cartwright's, not Jensen's) exploits:
About half a mile upriver, I came to a very strong shoot of water, from thence I saw several white-bears fishing in the stream above. I waited for them, and in a short time, a bitch with a small cub swam close to the other shore, and landed a little below. The bitch immediately went into the woods, bu the cub sat down upon a rock, when I sent a ball through it, at the distance of over a hundred and twenty yeards at the least, and knocked it over; but getting up again it crawled into the woods, where I heard it crying mournfully and concluded that it could not long survive.
The report of my gun brought some others down, and another she bear, with a cub of eighteen months old, came swimming close under me. I shot the bitch through the head and killed her dead. The cub perceiving this and getting sight of me made at me with great ferocity; but just as the creature was about to revenge the death of his dam, I saluted him with a load of large shot in his right eye, which not only knocked that out, but also made him close the other. He no sooner was able to keep his left eye open, then he made at me again, quite mad with rage and pain; but when he came to the foot of the bank, I gave him another salute with the other barrel, and blinded him most completely; his whole head was then entirely covered with blood. He blundered into the woods; knocking his head against every rock and tree that he met with.
I now perceived that two others had just landed about sixty yards above me, and were fiercely looking round them. The bears advanced a few yards to the edge of the woods, and the old one was looking sternly at me. The danger of firing at her I kndw was great, as she was seconded by a cub of eighteen months; but I could not resist the temptation.
[he then moves on to another part of the river]
I had not sat there long, ere my attention was diverted to an enormous, old, dog bear, which came out of some alder bushes on my right and was walking slowly towards me, with his eyes fixed on the ground, and his nose not far from it. I rested my elbows, and in that position suffered him to come within five yards of me before I drew the trigger; when I placed my ball in the centre of his skull, and killed him dead: but as the shore was flat reclining rock, he rolled around until he fell into the river.
On casting my eyes around, I perceived another beast of equal size, raised half out of the water.... I crept through the bushes until I came opposite to him, and interrupted his repast, by sending a ball through his head; it entered a little above his left eye, went out at the root of his right ear, and knocked him over, he then appeared to be in the agonies of death for some time; but at last recovered sufficiently to land on my side of the river, and to stagger into the woods.
Never in my life did I regret the want of ammunition so much as on this day; as I was by the failure interrupted in the finest sport that man ever had. I am certain, that I could with great ease have killed four or five brace more.
A "brace" is a pair (i.e. two), so Cartwright is actually bragging that if he hadn't run out of ammunition he could have killed eight or ten more bears. From this 18th century account it's plain to see that the polar bear has long been aquainted with "the finest sport that man ever had". The Safari Club International and their members are really just the modern incarnations of Captain Cartwright. Except now they're armed with high-powered semi-automatic rifles equipped with long-range scopes, snowmobiles, and helicopters.
This ancient and savage "sport" is what the polar bear is really up against. It's what it's always been up against. Even if we somehow get our collective heads out of our asses and do something about global climate change the polar bear's future will still have to face this mindless, violent facet of mankind's psyche.
