By Ben Bressler
NHA Founder & Director

I hate to focus on bad news when there are so many great strides being made in conservation worldwide, but I thought you would be interested in these two breaking news stories: sadly, they are both very unfortunate for polar bears, an iconic species that you and I both care deeply about.

The first details how the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species voted against the ban of the sale of polar bear parts this week. Quite incredibly, Canada — home to the world’s largest population of polar bears — was among the nations that voted against the ban.

The second piece of news may have more long-term negative impact on polar bears. A combined team of Harvard University and Oregon State scientists just announced that this past decade has seen a heat spike more dramatic than anything the planet has experienced since the last Ice Age more than 11,000 years ago.

Please feel free to comment on these stories in the comment field here, or on our Facebook page, where you’ll find a link to this post. And, please consider supporting WWF’s important work to protect polar bears.

Kind Regards,