The polar bears that are a famous part of Canada's North could soon be officially deemed a threatened species by the U.S. government, it was announced Wednesday.

The U.S. administration will likely continue to support oil and gas exploration in polar bear habitat even if the bears are placed on the 'threatened' list.
(CBC)

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne proposed listing polar bears as "threatened" on the government's list of species in trouble. The "endangered" category is reserved for species more likely to become extinct.

If bears are added to the "threatened" category, it would prevent U.S. federal agencies from taking any action that could harm the bears' survival or threaten the sea ice where they live.

That could include oil and gas exploration, commercial shipping or even releases of toxic contaminants or climate-affecting pollution.

"Polar bears are one of nature's ultimate survivors, able to live and thrive in one of the world's harshest environments," Kempthorne said Wednesday. "But we are concerned the polar bear's habitat may literally be melting."

But the U.S. administration is not likely to stop its oil and gas exploration in polar bear habitat, even if they are placed on the "threatened" list.

Kempthorne said his department's studies indicate that coastal and offshore oil and gas exploration, heavily promoted by the U.S. administration, particularly in Alaska, shouldn't be curtailed.

In Canada, the polar bear is officially considered a species of special concern, "one that is particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events but is not endangered or threatened," according to Environment Canada's website.

Experts now believe there are up to 25,000 polar bears remaining on the planet, and that number is in decline.

The non-profit group Polar Bears International estimates that of the 22,000 to 25,000 polar bears in the world, about 60 per cent live in Canada's North.

Global warming that is melting Arctic sea ice is putting the northern bears' lives in jeopardy, as well as pollution and overhunting.

Merv Gunter, co-founder of Frontiers North, a Winnipeg-based company that organizes adventure tours and operates Tundra Buggy tours in the Churchill area, said the number of bears in northern Manitoba has been dropping.

"The population of the lower Hudson Bay population of the bears, which is the one around Churchill, has declined by 15 to 20 per cent over the last 15 to 20 years," Gunter said Wednesday.

Encouraging sign

Danny Blair, a geography professor at the University of Winnipeg and co-chair of Climate Change Connection Manitoba, said the U.S. administration's announcement Wednesday is an encouraging sign from a government that has been criticized for a poor environmental track record. 

University of Winnipeg geography professor Danny Blair called the announcement an encouraging sign.
(CBC)

"This is a small but, I think, important gesture that I think a tide has turned, so to speak," Blair said. "They are taking more seriously the impact of something they've been debating quite vigorously in the American administration."

A final decision on whether to add polar bears to the threatened list is a year away, after the U.S. government completes more studies.

With files from the Associated Press