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The alarm bells rings, yet again, for animal lovers. The furry white polar bear that has graced the pristine beauty of the snow clad areas of the globe may face an obstacle in “being saved”. Federal officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska have asked for a few more weeks before they can decide to list polar bears under the Endangered Species Act because of global warming. Listing polar bears as “threatened” with extinction could trigger limits on development that adversely affects the animals.
The idea for such a listing was proposed in January 2007 giving the authorities enough time to take action and also allow the public to actively participate by commenting on the issue. As is obviously clear, the authorities haven’t been able to do their bit, yet, claiming the department has never declared a species threatened or endangered because of climate change and hence, it needs more time to think and re-think; however, the people have behaved more responsibly. The Center for Biological Diversity will vouch for the 500,000 comments received in favor of listing the polar bears, which is the highest ever for a listing. Interesting to note is that the petition to save the polar bear’s primary habitat, the sea ice, was filed in 2005. The Bush administration has had three years to act, which it clearly didn’t.
As per the U.S. Geological Survey undertaken in September 2007, two-thirds of the world’s polar bears, including the entire population in Alaska, will be killed off by 2050 because of thinning sea ice from global warming in the Arctic. Â

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