According to a recent international report, Canada should take another look at its decision to exclude the polar bear from the country’s list of endangered species due to the fact that the loss of the Arctic sea ice has already affected the polar bear population in the region.

At meeting of the Polar Bear Specialist Group in Copenhagen over the week end it was concluded that there is a deterioration in the world’s 19 polar bear populations. According to the group, which is a part of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, there are currently 8 polar bear populations that are experiencing a decline. This is an increase from the 5 populations that were noted to be in decline in the group’s 2005 report.  Of the polar bear populations not in decline, only three are currently considered stables with merely one population seeing an increase in numbers. Whether or not the remaining 7 populations are decreasing is unknown, due to insufficient available data.

Monday’s report suggests that what is behind the increased declaim of the polar bear populations is an “unprecedented” loss of Arctic sea ice.

Newly elected Polar Bear Specialist Group chairman, Dr. Eric Born who is with the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, spoke of the ice around Churchill, Manitoba, which is breaking up approximately three weeks earlier than normal, affecting not only the number of polar bears in the area, but also the health of the surviving bears.

“They’ve been weighing and measuring polar bears and they’ve been able to demonstrate there is a clear downward trend in the body mass of adult females. There is also evidence (of) decreased survival of very old bears and younger bears which can be linked to the change in sea ice.”

While speaking about the report on Monday from Copenhagen, Born also said that it is only natural to imagine that the same is happening in the Arctic.

“It’s a pretty good correlation that this is what will happen in other polar bear populations that suffer from decrease in sea ice. I think it’s fair to assume that this is what will happen in other places.”