| Rich
“sportsmen” are paying up to
$35,000 per trip to hunt down and
kill polar bears, which are
then stuffed and mounted for display.
An IoS investigation has
identified 10 companies offering polar bear
hunting trips. On many of their websites
are images of bloody bear carcasses,
besides which a grinning hunter poses with
gun or crossbow.
Some animals appear to have several
wounds, indicating that their deaths
were less the climax to a sport and more
a slow execution on ice. Experts estimate
that around 1,000 of the
world’s 22,000-25,000 remaining
polar bears are killed
each year.
About 150 of these are
shot by hunters in
Canada, 200 by
poachers in Russia,
and the remainder by native peoples in Canada,
the US and Greenland.
And the number of officially sanctioned
kills is increasing. Two years ago, Canada
upped its quota for hunting by
28 per cent to 518, Greenland
(in an attempt to stem the 250
or so unofficial kills) laid down an annual
quota, and Russia, where
poaching is a major problem, is about to
lift its ban on hunting for the first time
in 50 years.
In Canada, each Inuit community
decides how many polar bear “tags”
it will retain, and how many it will sell
to trophy hunters. Hunting
trip firms then sell these “tags”,
plus travel and accommodation, as part of
a package deal. Alaska Hunting Safaris,
for example, invites hunters to “Join
us on the adventure of a lifetime for the
thrill of chasing the Arctic’s greatest
trophy animal, the polar bear!”
Demand is strong. Alaska-based
Adventures in the Wild
has already sold out its polar bear
hunting trips for next year and
reports that polar bear tags
are selling out within days of becoming
available.
Once in the Arctic, the
clients travel by dog sled
accompanied by local guides. On sighting
a bear, the dogs chase down the bears until,
exhausted and trapped, they can be shot
at by the tourists.
Companies assure clients that local back-up
is on hand to help “finish the job”.
In a Safari Club International newsletter,
one hunter, who went with
Pokiak Guiding and Outfitting in Canada,
describes the killing of a 10ft bear: “I
squeezed off my .416 [gun]. I heard the
immediate WHACK – but he didn’t go down!
The bear lunged toward the open water… I
continued to shoot, and I could hear the
rounds hitting, but this grand old bear
would not go quietly."
“All of a sudden, he crashed through the
ice and finally succumbed in a pond-sized
area of slushy ice water… I watched from
the hard ice as James and Jacob went to
work to recover my prized trophy… An
exhilarating moment!”
Polar bear trophies are also in demand
from collectors. Rugs can sell for
$10,000 apiece, with illegal kills
in Russia believed to be
the main source. But skins are available
in Canada, too.
An IoS reporter was offered
one by www.Bear-SkinWorld.com. “We
have one polar bear rug which has just been
completed from our production line. We have
not yet posted this polar bear on our web
site. He measures 7ft 6ins from nose to
tail. Price is $12,000, plus shipping.”
Canadians say polar bear hunting
is properly managed to ensure the viability
of bear populations, and
Inuit representatives say that
the income from sports hunting is vital
for the survival of their communities.
———I’d love to hear you opinions. Feel
free to comment. Trophy hunting is a brutal
waste of life as far as Mr. SoVeg is concerned.
I recently moved, and decided to get digital
cable at the new place. I neeeeed my
National Geographic and Animal
Planet. For the first few months
we get all of the channels that are available.
I noticed on the guide a channel called
Wild TV. It sounded like
another fun nature channel to me…
Turns out Wild TV is a
hunting and fishing channel. I found out
quite quickly as they were just shooting
a walrus as I flicked to it. I find it hard
to believe that people find killing
innocent wildlife entertaining.
Not only to participate in, but to watch
on TV with a bowl of popcorn in
their stupid lap.
The
above article can be found http://independant.co.uk
and also you can view this article in so-veg
blog... | 
