Polar Bear Tracks
The polar bear may be on track to receive the strongest possible protections of the Endangered Species Act. If it is not listed as an endangered species, Ursus maritimus may edge closer to extinction as global warming continues to shorten the duration of the Arctic ice cover each year while the nation's wildlife agency is under no obligation to protect individual animals.
On Nov. 4 a federal court in Washington, D.C. ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine whether the polar bear is entitled to "endangered" status. The decision by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected arguments by the Obama administration that the ESA allows a species to be deemed endangered only if its extinction is imminent.
