U.S.-backed proposal to ban the international trade of polar bear skins, teeth and claws was defeated Thursday at a UN wildlife meeting in Doha, Qatar. It was argued that the practice doesn't pose a significant threat to the animals, while a ban would hurt indigenous economies.
 
The Americans argued at the 175-country Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, that the sale of polar bear skins adds to survival problems that include the loss of sea ice habitat due to climate change. There are projections that the bear population, estimated at 20,000 to 25,000, could decline by two-thirds by 2050 because of habitat loss in the Arctic.

Canada, Norway and Greenland led opposition to the U.S. proposal. They said the threat from trade was minimal and the hunting done by aboriginal communities was critical to their economies. Only two per cent of Canadian polar bears are internationally traded and the country strictly manages the commerce, Canada said.

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