Despite of strict laws for hunting polar bears, some companies still offer expeditions on the Arctic for hunts of polar bears and other species.
The heartbreaking photos show the hunters standing next to killed polar bears and these photos are being used by several companies to promote these hunting expeditions.
According to available reports, 5000 polar bears have been killed for sport in the Canadian part of the Arctic Circle in the recent years.
Although hunting companies organize several types of hunts of big game, trips to the Arctic Circle are the ‘most memorable’ according to these trophy hunters.
Trophy Hunting of Polar Bears in the Arctic Hasn’t Stopped
One company from Nebraska, Worldwide Trophy Adventures offers hunters a second 10-day hunt in the prime season of hunting in case a polar bear isn’t taken during the previous 10-day hunt.
The hunting package includes services of an ‘experienced Inuit polar bear guide with a dog team throughout the hunt duration’ as well as ‘field prep of the trophy’.
The trip ends when a polar bear is harvested. The WWF emphasizes that there are between 20000 and 25000 polar bears in the wild and they’re vulnerable.
This species lives in the Arctic in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Denmark, and Russia.
Back in 2008, the US prohibited the import of polar bear trophies in the country. Today, Norway is the only country where trophy hunting of polar bears is banned.
In Russia, Alaska, and Greenland, indigenous communities are allowed to hunt for polar bears in set numbers for clothing and food. But, the Mirror notes that Canadian Inuit are selling these licenses to enable trophy hunting.
Another company that organizes trophy hunting, Ameri-Cana Expeditions, promises ‘high success rates’ and ‘good trophy quality’.
On their website, it’s written they’ve been in the business for more than 30 years and claim hunting is a major part of the lifestyle of the Inuit population.
The quota systems allow villagers to supply a lot of their needs from seal, walrus, narwhal, and beluga whale populations, as well as of polar bears and musk oxen.
The price that’s mentioned for an American to kill a polar bear is $1043.83 in addition to the hunt price, totalling somewhere over $44,000.
We Need to Protect Polar Bears Better
Eduardo Goncalves from the Mirror’s Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting explains that it’s a fact that polar bears are in danger of extinction and if we want them to survive, we have to put an end to the slaughter.
For him, it’s unbelievable how someone can justify having a polar bear in their homes for ‘personal use’ or as a trophy.
It’s unimaginable how trophy hunters go around and shot them for fun so that they can later pose for a photo and then have the bear’s head hanging over their fireplace.
