2 Posts; POLAR BEAR ARRIVES IN ZOO IN ENGLAND- VICTOR ARRIVES AFTER 12 HOUR JOURNEY

“My first post in a while, just taking it slowly, waiting for next spinal op!!. I sincerely hope this park is to help polar bears, not breed them or just have them for entertainment. If only they could rescue Yupi; currently housed at Morelia Zoo in Mexico! I hate to see wild animals behind bars, but have to also say this is a pretty impressive enclosure, shame they couldn’t add icebergs & snow….but living in England myself, he may just get a taste of life in the snow; however nothing like the habitat this bear should be in…wild & free!!!”

News Link; Post 1; BORN FREE

Yorkshire Wildlife Park has announced the import of a polar bear, Victor, from Rhenen Zoo in the Netherlands. According to their website, Victor is a 15-year-old bear who has been “retired” from the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme (EEP).

The arrival of Victor represents the first time that a polar bear has been kept in a zoo in England since the death of Mandy at Flamingo Land in 2004. (However, we believe that there is a female polar bear at a private facility in Oxfordshire).

There are considerable threats facing wild polar bears and their habitat, but Born Free firmly believes that breeding more bears in zoos has no genuine role to play in polar bear conservation. Furthermore, experience of polar bears in zoos the world over has shown us time and again that polar bears simply do not fare well in captivity – partly as a consequence of the restricted environment. It must be taken into account that the average polar bear enclosure in captivity is 1 million times smaller than the natural range of a polar bear in the wild.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, the UK has not become “polar bear-free”. After many years of campaigning, Born Free was instrumental in securing the transfer of Mercedes, the last polar bear at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, to their sister site at Highland Wildlife Park. Mercedes had been kept in a wholly unsuitable “traditional” bear enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo since 1984. Highland Wildlife Park brought in a young male from the Netherlands, just prior to Mercedes’ death in 2011. Another male polar bear was then imported in 2012 from a zoo in Germany.

According to news reports, Victor is expected to be joined by two other polar bears by the end of the year, although it is currently unclear where these bears will be arriving from. Yorkshire Wildlife Park has so far not ruled out breeding polar bears at their new facility.

In October 2013, Yorkshire Wildlife Park launched a £150,000 appeal to rescue Yupi, a female polar bear currently housed at Morelia Zoo in Mexico in what most experts believe is a very inappropriate climate and enclosure. The offer to rehome Yupi is yet to be accepted and it is unclear whether there is any realistic chance of Yupi being relocated to Yorkshire.

If Yorkshire Wildlife Park truly wants to help polar bears, it will focus on genuine rescues of polar bears from the most unsuitable zoos worldwide, rather than act as a facility for European zoos to offload bears surplus to requirements from the European breeding programme. Furthermore, Yorkshire Wildlife Park should ensure that they do not breed from any bears, to avoid adding to the numbers of bears in captivity with no prospect of release to the wild.

For more information see link & post below:

http://www.yorkshirewildlifepark.com/#!news/c1qh1

Help us monitor their behaviour and protect them in the wild by adopting the Hudson Bay Polar Bears

News Link:-http://www.bornfree.org.uk/news/news-article/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=1657

News Link; Post 2 DAILYMAILCO,UK

I’m bearing up nicely! After a 12-hour journey, Victor, England’s only polar bear, chills out in his new home

• Victor, a 1,058lb polar bear, has become England’s only polar bear after moving to Doncaster from Holland 
• The 15-year-old was retired from a breeding programme because he is father to nearly all of Europe’s polar bears
• He has moved into a 10-acre park in Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which includes 8m deep lakes and an Arctic climate
• More polar bears will be arriving to give him some company over the next few months, park officials say

By OLLIE GILLMAN FOR MAILONLINE and CHRIS BROOKE FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 13:26, 18 August 2014 | UPDATED: 08:11, 19 August 2014

Frolicking in his new home, England’s only polar bear is a picture of contentment.

But moving the 75-stone animal from a Dutch zoo to this purpose-built enclosure was a tricky proposition – not least for Victor himself.

With his breeding days behind him, the 15-year-old was picked to be the first occupant of an £850,000 facility at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, complete with an eight-metre-deep lake and swathes of grassland, designed to resemble the Arctic tundra in the summer.

To reach it, however, he had to endure a 12-hour journey locked inside a cramped metal box. After being trained to walk into the cage, he was loaded on to a lorry and then ferried to Hull from the port of Zeebrugge, receiving fish and water through the bars along the way.

His new keepers were relieved that upon his arrival on Thursday they were met by a ‘very confident’ and ‘laid back’ character – rather than a polar bear with a sore head.

After spending the weekend in a holding area to give him time to adjust, Victor was finally let loose in his new home yesterday. He quickly settled in with a refreshing dip in the man-made lake, before a rest in one of the caves dug into a bank at the side of the water.

His enclosure is one of the biggest in the world, and could hold up to ten more animals. Victor is expected to be joined by two others by the end of the year – but for now he has all ten acres to himself.

Cheryl Williams, the wildlife park’s director, said: ‘He is quite greedy and loves meat and fish, with his favourite being mackerel, but he is not very impressed by vegetables. I have been told he likes the occasional peanut butter sandwich but we haven’t tried that yet.

‘He weighs about 480kg (1058lbs) so he is pretty chunky, but that is his summer weight. When it comes up to winter he will become a real hungry Horace and eat lots more, when it gets colder he will probably be about 500kg (1102lbs).

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To reach it, however, he had to endure a 12-hour journey locked inside a cramped metal box. After being trained to walk into the cage, he was loaded on to a lorry and then ferried to Hull from the port of Zeebrugge, receiving fish and water through the bars along the way.

His new keepers were relieved that upon his arrival on Thursday they were met by a ‘very confident’ and ‘laid back’ character – rather than a polar bear with a sore head.

After spending the weekend in a holding area to give him time to adjust, Victor was finally let loose in his new home yesterday. He quickly settled in with a refreshing dip in the man-made lake, before a rest in one of the caves dug into a bank at the side of the water.

His enclosure is one of the biggest in the world, and could hold up to ten more animals. Victor is expected to be joined by two others by the end of the year – but for now he has all ten acres to himself.

Cheryl Williams, the wildlife park’s director, said: ‘He is quite greedy and loves meat and fish, with his favourite being mackerel, but he is not very impressed by vegetables. I have been told he likes the occasional peanut butter sandwich but we haven’t tried that yet.

‘He weighs about 480kg (1058lbs) so he is pretty chunky, but that is his summer weight. When it comes up to winter he will become a real hungry Horace and eat lots more, when it gets colder he will probably be about 500kg (1102lbs).

Victor, who retired from a breeding programme after fathering ten cubs, is the first polar bear to live in England for about a decade. He was born in captivity in Rostock, Germany, before moving to Rhenen in the Netherlands.

His new keepers hope to use their enclosure to re-home bears living in unsuitable homes in Eastern Europe or tropical countries. The animal, who is such a prolific breeder that he had to be retired because he is father to most of Europe’s polar bears, now lives in a 10-acre enclosure which has the environment of an Arctic summer.

Park director John Minion said: ‘We are delighted to welcome Victor to the park and be able to make a contribution to polar bear conservation. ‘Victor has made a great contribution to the European breeding programme and his genes are very well represented now so the decision was made to retire him to the park. ‘He’s actually the most prolific breeder across Europe, so most polar bears in Europe are probably his children.

Published on 18 Aug 2014

Polar bear Victor is set to become the first resident in the Doncaster-based wildlife park’s purpose-built polar bear centre. The 15-year-old polar bear is due to arrive at the park from his home at Rhenen Zoo in Holland next month, – and will be the only one in England.

VIDEO: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2727861/It-s-long-way-t-Arctic-Britain-s-polar-bear-Victor-arrives-new-home-Yorkshire.html#v-3735643981001

‘But that doesn’t stop Victor from being an ambassador for the Arctic. Polar bears are an iconic species that are increasingly threatened in their native habitat and we need to fight their cause. The park expect Victor to live for anotjer 15 years at least, but he will not be lonely for long as more bears are expected to join him soon. ‘We will have more bears arriving in the autumn and will announce those as soon as details are finalised,’ Mr Minion added.

‘So because of that he’s now been retired from the breeding programme and we offered him a home as we’ve just built this specialist enclosure which is the biggest in Europe at the moment.’

And if Victor is anything to go by, the other polar bears will settle in fine at the large enclosure, dubbed Project Polar, which features landscaped hills, valleys, and lakes with water up to 8m deep. Within 10 minutes of arriving he was seen in his house, eating food and having a drink ‘like he had been here all his life’, Mr Minion said. He will be kept of out of the public gaze while he acclimatises to British temperatures, but will be able to explore his new home.

Mr Minion explained what Project Polar includes: ‘The landscaping of the reserves mirror the Arctic Tundra with grass, herbs, shrubs and heathers. There are rocky areas and caves, which provide shelter for the bears as well as their main house. ‘The large lake is 8m deep so Victor will be able to swim and dive. We are sure that Victor will enjoy his new surroundings.’

Last year Yorkshire Wildlife Park offered a home to Yupi, a polar bear trapped in soaring temperatures and a concrete enclosure in a Mexican zoo.

Yupi has been at Morelia Zoo since 1992, after being captured in the wild as a cub. Her current concrete enclosure has virtually no shade, and offers little stimulation, causing campaigners to encourage the zoo to move her to a more appropriate home.

The Doncaster park made an offer to rehouse Yupi, but it is yet to be accepted. Ms Williams said: ‘We would still be delighted to re-home Yupi, who is over twenty years old. It would be wonderful if she could enjoy the rest of her life in the reserve here, so we wait for further news from Morelia.’  There are two other polar bears in Britain, who both live at Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland. One of them, called Walker, is one of Victor’s many sons.

All Pictures In Daily Mail News Link From: FameFlynet.uk.com

News Link:-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2727861/It-s-long-way-t-Arctic-Britain-s-polar-bear-Victor-arrives-new-home-Yorkshire.html

Related articles

• Zoo bid to save ‘Mexican’ polar bear (bbc.co.uk)
• Yupi the polar bear can’t make prison break because of Mexican gang violence (mirror.co.uk)
• Polar Bear Twins Heading To St. Paul’s Como Zoo (minnesota.cbslocal.com)
• Alone in a concrete prison: meet Morelia Zoo’s polar bear (our-compass.org)

Polar bear killed by HEATWAVE: Argentine animal dies after becoming ‘nervous and irritated’ amid scorching heat and noise

“Posted on behalf of my mum”

• ‘Winner’ died of hyperthermia at Buenos Aires Zoo after overheating in high summer temperatures
• Polar bear was also thought to have been frightened by noise from Christmas Eve fireworks
• Animal was one of the most popular attractions at the Argentinian Zoo

The last remaining polar bear at Buenos Aires Zoo has died after overheating in soaring summer temperatures.

‘Winner,’ who was one of best loved attractions at the zoo, is believed to have been unable to control its body temperature in the extreme heat of the Argentinian summer and died of hyperthermia.

The animal, which was covered in heavy fur to cope with freezing conditions in its native Artic habitat, was also believed to have been frightened by the noise from fireworks let off to celebrate Christmas Eve

Tragedy: ‘Winner’ the last polar bear in Buenos Aires Zoo, Argentina, has died from hyperthermia in the soaring summer heat

The zoo is a popular visitor attraction in the Argentine capital and has a tradition of looking after polar bears.

The animals used to live in a pool but their cage was improved in 1993 when a 145,000-litre pool was built along with a site for birthing and three security rings.

The zoo said in a statement that it had been visited by experts and met all international regulations to house polar bears.

Heat: ‘Winner’ was a popular attraction for visitors to the Zoo (seen here swimming in his pool)

The polar bear is often regarded as a marine mammal because of the large amount of time it spends at sea.

Its preferred habitat is the annual sea ice covering the waters over the continental shelf in the Artic.

The animal is a very good swimmer with some spotted in the sea as far as 200 miles from land.

CAN BEARS FROM THE ARCTIC REALLY ADAPT TO WARMER WATERS?

Hardy: Polar bears often spend as much time in the sea as they do on land as they hunt for prey

Polar bears cannot simply acclimatise to hot climates. Even if a polar bear is born in a warm climate and lives there all of his life, he will still possess several physiological adaptations to life in the Arctic.

Even if he loses some fur and blubber, he will always have black skin that absorbs heat and hollow hairs which work as efficient solar collectors.

Polar bears do not have any physical means of staying cool; they rely on behaviour to do that.

They will try to take as much shade as possible during the warmest parts of the day and cool off in cold water when they overheat.

Zookeepers may try and balance their energy expenditure and food intake to regulate their body temperature and may be fed a vegetarian diet or simply very little during warmer times (eating meat and fat generates immediate heat energy).

The bottom line is that polar bears can be resilient but this does not mean that they are comfortable.

Polar bears are found in the Arctic Circle and on neighbouring land masses as far south as Newfoundland Island in Canada. Some sightings have even been reported in the far north of Norway.

The bears are rarer in the extreme north of the Arctic although the animal is believed to roam across right across the region.

They tend to favour hunting on sea ice and in the sea in search of prey such as seals. Polar bears often frequent areas where sea ice meets water – primarily around the edges of the ice pack, where more seals can be found.

The global polar bear population is believed to be between 20,000 and 25,000 with 19 recognized sub-populations.

The polar bear is the largest terrestrial carnivore, with adult males weighing between 350 and 680 kg (770–1500 lbs) and measuring between 7.9 and 9.8 ft in length.

News Link:-: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2253662/Buenos-Aires-Zoos-Polar-bear-Winner-killed-heatwave.html#ixzz2GHEXTzKe

 

Shell’s Arctic Drilling Venture Stumbles Toward Reality

 

Royal Dutch Shell, the global energy giant, has already invested more than $4 billion in its Arctic drilling venture, but that was apparently not enough to purchase proper mooring in Alaska‘s Dutch Harbor and avoid a subsequent public relations mess.

Precisely what happened is still being sorted out. Official accounts had the Noble Discoverer, one of two massive drilling rigs that Shell had parked midway up the Aleutian Island chain, dragging anchor in stiff winds over the weekend before coming to a halt 100 yards offshore.

Locals, including a shutterbug harbor captain, disputed that scenario and lit up Twitter and Facebook with photographs showing the rig all but on the beach.

“There’s no question it hit the beach,” Kristjan Laxfoss, the harbor captain, told The Associated Press on Sunday. “That ship was not coming any closer. It was on the beach.”

Judge for yourself: 

Whatever the reality, and while Shell plans to send divers down later this week to inspect the hull, no damage to the rig has yet been reported, and the incident appears to have had no environmental impact.

But for a company embarking on what is arguably among the most watched and most contentious oil and gas ventures in recent memory, the image of shore-based personnel scurrying toward a drifting and uncontrolled rig is embarrassing at best, and inauspicious at worst.

It is also a chilling reminder that, despite the most careful planning, things can go awry.

“Our goal remains flawless operations,” the company declared in a statement posted to its website. “Even a ‘near miss’ is unacceptable. While an internal investigation will determine why the Discoverer slipped anchor, we are pleased with the speed and effectiveness of the mitigation measures we had in place.”

Opponents of Arctic drilling were unmoved. “For us,” said Travis Nichols, a spokesman for Greenpeace, “it’s a clear warning sign that Shell isn’t prepared to go up there.”

“Up there” is the unforgiving Chuchki and Beaufort seas, still more than 1,000 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor, along Alaska’s northern coast. That’s where the Noble Discoverer and its sister rig, the Kulluk — along with dozens of support vessels — aim to soon hunker down, between 20 and 70 miles offshore, where they will begin poking exploratory holes in the seabed in the hope of finding oil.

With visions of oil-soaked beaches and BP’s flaming Deepwater Horizon rig still fresh in the minds of many Americans — as are more than two decades of environmental impacts arising form the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound — opposition to Shell’s Arctic ambitions has been fierce. In response, the company has pulled out all the stops in touting its experience in northern waters, including exploration wells it plumbed in the Chuchki and Beaufort the 1980s and ’90s, before low oil prices prompted it to focus on the Gulf.

Shell has also argued that, unlike BP’s operation in the Gulf of Mexico, which was groping in waters nearly a mile deep and drilling to depths of 18,000 feet, the Beaufort and Chuchki operations will be working in comparative shallows of 140 feet or so, and drilling to roughly 10,000 feet or less. Well pressures in the Arctic are also expected to be far lower, the company has said, making the sort of wild, unchecked gusher that BP experienced unlikely.

Read the rest of this News Story:-http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-zeller-jr/shell-arctic-drilling_b_1679697.html?utm_campaign=071712&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-green&utm_content=FullStory

 

A Homeless Polar Bear in London – Ft. Jude Law and Radiohead

“If this doesn’t make people want to save the Arctic, I don’t know what will!”

 

Published on 2 Jul 2012 by GreenpeaceVideo

http://www.savethearctic.org – Our leaders won’t listen to her, but they’ll listen to you. What do you have to say to those who want to destroy the Arctic? Tell us in a comment!

Greenpeace, Jude Law, Radiohead and hundreds of thousands of people around the world are coming together to demand we save the Arctic from oil drilling, industrial fishing and militarization. Join us athttp://www.savethearctic.org

In the last 30 years, we’ve lost as much as three-quarters of the floating ice cap at the top of the world. The volume of that sea ice measured by satellites in the summer, when it reaches its smallest, has shrunk so fast that scientists say it’s now in a ‘death spiral’.

For over 800,000 years, ice has been a permanent feature of the Arctic ocean. It’s melting because of our use of dirty fossil fuel energy, and in the near future it could be ice free for the first time since humans walked the Earth. This would be not only devastating for the people, polar bears, narwhals, walruses and other species that live there – but for the rest of us too.

The ice at the top of the world reflects much of the sun’s heat back into space and keeps our whole planet cool, stabilising the weather systems that we depend on to grow our food. Protecting the ice means protecting us all.

Ask world leaders to create a global sanctuary in the uninhabited area around the North Pole and a ban on oil drilling and industrial fishing in Arctic waters.

PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK TO SIGN THE PETITION – LET’S SAVE THE ARCTIC WHILE WE STILL CAN:–http://www.savethearctic.org/

Gray Whale Population Before Whaling Was Up to 5 Times Larger, Study Says

The population of eastern Pacific gray whales shows a huge dip at the same point that whaling increased in the early 20th century, a new analysis of acient whale genes shows.

Eastern Pacific gray whales are a subspecies of grey whale that lives in the Pacific Ocean, migrating from the Arctic to Mexico yearly. Their population is currently estimated to be around 20,000. They are up to 46 feet (14 meters) long and weigh up to 99,000 pounds (45,000 kilograms).

While scientists have known that commercial whaling decreased whale populations, the specifics of the population prior to whaling has been uncertain. To get a better understanding of the pre-whaling numbers for one subspecies of gray whale, the researchers used DNA samples from the bones of eastern Pacific gray whales that lived between 150 and 2,500 years ago and compared the results with the genomes of modern whales.

“In this case, we were able to look at pre-whaling specimens of gray whales, and found that the genetic data are consistent with a sharp and recent bottleneck — very likely the result of commercial whaling,” study researcher Elizabeth Alter, of City University of New York, York College, said in a statement.

They saw that the older whales, from before the advent of commercial whaling, had much more variation within their genomes than today’s whales. This means that at the time, the whale population was much larger.

This genetic data on those whales suggests their population used to be much larger than their current numbers, probably around 78,000 to 116,000. These estimates were at odds with historical records of whale populations, the researchers said, which had suggested that there were somewhere between 15,000 and 35,500 whales at that time.

Their new study supports the previous genetic work, which focused on only current whale populations and suggested their numbers were much larger even as little as 200 years ago.

“Retrieving DNA from ancient whales allows more direct insights into their population histories than using modern DNA alone,” Alter said. “As methods for retrieval and analysis of ancient DNA improve, we’ll be able to increasingly refine population histories for heavily exploited species like whales.”

News link:-http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/12/gray-whale-population-whaling_n_1511704.html?ref=topbar

Alone in a concrete prison: meet Morelia Zoo’s polar bear – Sign Petition Please

“Please copy the example letter below & send it to the email addresses provided; we must do all we can to get Yupi out of that prison cell. She can’t be released as she won’t know how to hunt, so if she has to be behind bars, please, let it be somewhere more environmentally stimulating for her. This poor girl has had an appalling life of misery, just to entertain humans….we must give to her now!”

Yupi is a female polar bear who was brought to Morelia Zoo, Mexico in 1992 when she was only 3 months old. She came from Alaska as an orphaned cub. Upon arrival at the Mexican zoo Yupi was placed in an old grizzly bear pen. This is the pen in which she still lives today… she’s is now 20 years old.

Since Morelia is located in the central part of Mexico, Yupi is exposed to a tropical climate year-round, meaning that temperatures remain high throughout the year. This is dramatically different from what Yupi would experience in her native Alaska, where below freezing winters and cooler summers are the norm.

In addition, Yupi’s daily management regime is predictable and routine with little stimulation of any kind. She does not have any environmental enrichment and feeding occurs on a schedule at specific times of the day. But probably the most alarming thing about Yupi’s life is the fact that she is confined in her holding area (a dank, barren, concrete bunker) for the bulk of each day, in conditions far worse than her main enclosure.

Update 27th of April 2012: At the end of February the homepage of 3dayz featured a 3 days of action marathon for Yupi. Last week, Ericka Ceballos – who is coordinator of the International Yupi Campaign – contacted us to thank all of our supporters for sending the many protest mails in support of Yupi during that action. She also gave us new email addresses to contact, but that’s not all…!

HAVE YOUR PROTEST MAIL HAND-DELIVERED!

Your protest mail will have an even bigger impact, because every protest mail sent before the end of this month will be printed and hand-delivered on the 3rd of May! On this date Ericka will personally deliver an incredible 76.500 emails and signatures in support of Yupi to the director of Morelia Zoo. With less than 3.500 signatures and 4 days to go, supporters from all over the world are now trying to reach 80.000 signatures.

Copy + Paste the letter below & send it to the following email addresses.

Email: presidencia@morelia.gob.mx, fvallejo@morelia.gob.mx, yupicatca@yahoo.ca, protest@3dayz.com

Example letter

Dear representative,

 After reading about her on 3dayz.com, I am deeply concerned about the continued housing and display of Yupi the polar bear at the Parque Zoologico Benito Juarez (Morelia Zoo) in Mexico. I support moving her to a more appropriate naturalistic accomodation in a more appropriate climate as soon as possible and would like for you to team up with Zoocheck Canada for advise in this matter.

Polar bears are uniquely adapted for life in cold environments and do poorly in temperate and tropical climates. In the wild, they inhabit extremely large home ranges, occupying one of the largest living spaces of any terrestrial animal species. They spend significant time hunting and tracking prey, walking, socializing and playing.

At the Morelia Zoo, Yupi is housed in an antiquated, undersized, barren enclosure that does not satisfy her biological and behavioural needs. She is the only Arctic animal in a collection of temperate and tropical species and opportunities for viewing Yupi are extremely limited by her enclosure.

I understand that there are suitable facilities currently willing to provide Yupi with a permanent home where she can enjoy an expansive natural space to roam, more complex environments, and a colder, more suitable climate. I strongly encourage you to ensure that Yupi is relocated as soon as possible and urge you not to keep any polar bears in the future.

Thank you for considering this letter.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Your Country

News Link:-http://3dayz.com/entertainment/135-alone-in-a-concrete-prison-meet-morelia-zoos-polar-bear?utm_source=3dayz+Action+List&utm_campaign=052f5992e5-New_action_from_3dayz_4_27_2012&utm_medium=email

Related articles

• Save Yupi – Polar Bear living in Mexican Zoo (preciousjules1985.wordpress.com)

Protect their Ice from Corporate Polluters

A wild polar bear in the Arctic is a majestic creature–commanding respect with its beauty and ferocity. But global warming is threatening this bear’s very existence.

Polar bears in the southern area of their range are literally starving to death as the ice they depend on for hunting seals melts sooner in the spring and freezes later in the fall each year. Unless we act, polar bears could easily disappear from the Hudson Bay within our lifetime.

Polar bears are starving–take action to protect them today.

Right now, we have a chance to fight for these magnificent bears. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is about to propose rules to limit pollution from coal-fired power plants, which are the largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S. By reducing the pollution they emit, we can make a substantial impact in the fight for polar bears.

But, even as polar bears go hungry from the impacts of climate change, greedy corporate polluters are fighting to keep dumping unlimited carbon pollution into our air.

Don’t let corporate pollution starve polar bears to extinction–send this message today.

For thousands of years, polar bears have made the Arctic their home. The expansive ice and plentiful seal populations have shaped this species. In just four decades, the number of ice-free days polar bears face in the western Hudson Bay has grown by 40 days in just the last 40 years to a terrifying 160 days in 2010. That’s 160 days without access to food, while they are nursing young.

Polar bears do have hope of surviving into the next century if we act now to reduce one of the greatest emitters of the carbon pollution that is melting their ice.

Help create a better future for polar bears–take action to slow the pace of global warming.

via http://secure.truemajority.org/o/2/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=2804

Obama Administration Must Keep the Arctic’s Wild Seas out of Drilling Plan | Frances Beinecke’s Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC

Obama Administration Must Keep the Arctic’s Wild Seas out of Drilling Plan | Frances Beinecke’s Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC.