What is currently being done to protect polar bears in Alaska?
There are three polar bear populations in Alaska: the Southern Beaufort Sea population, estimated 1,500 animals, shared with Canada; the Northern Beaufort Sea population, estimated at 1,200 animals, also shared with Canada; and the Chukchi Sea population, estimated 2,000 animals, shared with Russia. Management of these polar bears is already the responsibility of the Service under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the U.S. Geological Survey (Survey) is also actively involved in research. The Service and the Survey are pursuing an active program, in cooperation with a broad array of organizations, which includes studying population status and trends, learning more about polar bear relationship to sea ice habitat, monitoring subsistence harvest, and minimizing bear-human conflicts, among many other topics, all designed to help conserve polar bears in the face of a changing environment. Key partners in these local, national, and international cooperative efforts include the State of A