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Cover Story

Grades 4-6

Safe Space for Polar Bears

On October 22, the U.S. government announced a plan to protect polar bears. The plan would set up the largest single protected habitat for any species in the country. About 200,541 square miles in Alaska and off its coast would become a "critical habitat" for the bear population. The area is home to some 3,500 bears. About 93% of the protected area is sea ice, which polar bears rely on for survival. Most polar bears remain on the ice year-round, spending only a short time on land.

Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, polar bears were listed as threatened, or likely to become endangered, in 2008. The creation of a protected habitat is a big step toward keeping polar bears safe from illegal hunters and protecting the land from being taken over by oil and gas companies.

But melting sea ice caused by climate change is by far the biggest problem for the bears. Experts agree that more must be done to fight global warming in order to protect them. "We will continue to work to protect the polar bear and its fragile environment," said Thomas Strickland, an assistant secretary in the U.S. Interior Department. For now, it may be the best news the threatened arctic animals can expect.

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