Canada needs to step up for Polar Bears

​worldanimalnews.com/signatures-needed-to-ask-canada-to-ban-trophy-hunters-from-killing-polar-bears-as-their-numbers-continue-to-decline/

Canada made history this year in banning the captivity of cetaceans demonstrating a serious commitment to animal welfare but that doesn't mean there isn't still a long way to go. Polar bears are in great danger and without Canada's help to save them, they are heading towards extinction.

Polar bears face many perils in the wild including oil drilling and human encroachment which is directly linked to sea ice melting and habitat loss. This habitat loss is causing them to struggle to find prey and forces them in land where they become a problem for communities that only know one way to deal with their encroachment. But this is not their only threat, as their numbers sit around 25, 000 remaining in the wild, sport hunting continues to take lives despite being listed as a vulnerable species. 

Normally, Canada allows the Inuit Indigenous people the right to hunt polar bears as claim to their heritage and traditions but this is also being capitalized on. Some of these people then sell their rights to hunt polar bears to the highest bidder which brings people from all over Canada and the U.S. over for their chance to shoot one of the largest land predators on earth. In fact, there have even been excursions sold for approximately $45, 000 dollars that give 12 day experiences that lead to the slaughter of a polar bear. In recent years, as many as 5, 000 polar bears have been killed.

Sport hunting is a sickness and should be banned on a global scale. Is it not enough that we have taken so much from the animal kingdom and abused our power as the apparent "dominant species" for hundreds of years? We have demonstrated a complete lack of understanding that the planet belongs to every single plant, insect, and animal that inhabits earth and instead have made it our mission to utilize animals in any way that we see fit including sport hunting. 

What makes sport hunting especially disgusting to me is that it's often animals that are already facing serious danger in the wild from habitat loss specifically that are targeted for trophy hunting. Elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, polar bears etc., these animals are in serious danger of going extinct and we see it fit to spend 10's of thousands of dollars for the opportunity to put a bullet into one? These people continue to argue that their money is funded into conservation efforts but I've already called that out is blatant hypocrisy that aims to deflect the actual horrors of what's being done. The fact is, it's a bunch of wealthy pricks who get their thrills out of ending the life of an endangered animal, simple as that. If it were truly about conservation as they claimed, they'd funnel that money into ACTUAL conservation efforts rather then using it for trophy hunting.

As most of the population of polar bears reside in Canada, it has an obligation to the survival of the species to act now. There must be a complete ban on the sport hunting of polar bears with strict penalties for anyone found to be participating in the activity. Tradition and heritage are one thing but selling off those rights to sick people obsessed with slaughtering beautiful animals needs to come with punishment to deter it from continuing. Jail time, steep fines, and the loss of the right to hunt should be immediate when it comes to hunting endangered animals like the polar bear.
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Canada is responsible for the survival of the polar bears and must act now to secure their future. Please take a minute to head to the original story through the link at the top of the page and sign the petition demanding Canada act now. It already has over 100, 000 signatures since being created, lend your voice to the cause!

HAPPY VEG