Bag A Polar Bear For $35,000: The New Threat To The Species

[babylonsister]

Bag a polar bear for $35,000: the new threat to the species

The latest challenge for fans of extreme hunting is an expedition to the Arctic Circle. Jerome Taylor reports

Friday, 20 March 2009

Hunters pay tens of thousands of dollars to kill polar bears in the Arctic

GETTY IMAGES


Boyd Warner treasures the memory of killing his first polar bear. It was 2003. For days he had stalked his prey on the frozen wastelands north of Pond Inlet, one of Canada's most isolated Inuit communities deep inside the Arctic Circle. His dog team picked up the scent of an eight-foot adult male and they hurtled over the ice: the hunt was on.

"It was one of those beautiful Arctic days," recalled Mr Warner. "We'd had about 14 hours of sunlight and were completely surrounded by nature. The moment of death comes quickly for the bear. You might track one for days through the ice but a single shot to the heart kills it instantly."

For wealthy modern-day trophy hunters, bagging a polar bear is the ultimate kill. Fourteen days in harsh conditions, requiring dog-sleds, Inuit guides and a heated tent camp, does not come cheap: the minimum bill comes to $35,000 (£24,000).

Mr Warner is the man who helps them do it. Earlier this week, the 45-year-old Canadian, whose company Adventure Northwest is based in Yellowknife, sent this season's first group of hunters north to Pond Inlet, where they will track and kill up to six bears. "This is probably the toughest hunt you can ever do," he said. "The weather conditions are appalling and it takes a huge amount of patience. You're living in the Arctic where it can drop to -50C at night and everything is done with sled dogs. It's incredibly gruelling.

"This year we have a lot of Mexicans and Americans but you get hunters from Europe, mainly Norwegians and Poles. They are just genuine, ordinary folk with a lot of cash. They respect the animals enormously."

There are few animals more symbolic of the perils of climate change than the polar bear, which faces destruction as the Arctic sea ice melts away – the bears starve or drown because the distances they have to swim to find prey become too vast. Yet every year scores of wealthy hunters from around the world pay tens of thousands of dollars to travel into the frozen Arctic and bag themselves a coveted polar bear hide.

more...

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/bag-a-polar-bear-for-35000-the-new-threat-to-the-species-1649547.html

[dkf]

1. OMG this is disgusting.

It is unconscionable what we are doing to polar bears.

[WillParkinson]

2. I really want a human hunting season...

Survival of the fittest and all.

[Nihil]

6. I want those "hunters" to be trapped on the ice ...

... separated from their weapons & supplies and with no means of
communication or escaping to the outside world.

Then I want a hungry polar bear to find them.

[closeupready]

3. Scumbags!

:mad:

[driver8]

4. "They respect the animals enormously..."

Yeah, until they pump a few bullets into them.


How can this be allowed to happen?

This makes me sick to my stomach.

[nickyt]

5. "They are just genuine, ordinary folk with a lot of cash. They respect the animals enormously."

Boyd Warner Owner/ Operator
Ron Kingsley Hunt Manager

Yellowknife Office
P.O. Box 820
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Canada X1A 2N6
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

http://www.adventurenw.com/


Respect 'em, kill 'em - what's the diff.