COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report

on the Ursus maritimus

in

SPECIAL CONCERN 2018 COSEWIC status reports are working documents used in assigning the status of wildlife species suspected of being at risk. This report may be cited as follows:

COSEWIC. 2018. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Polar Bear Ursus maritimus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. xv + 113 pp. (http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=en&n=24F7211B-1).

Previous report(s):

COSEWIC. 2008. COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the polar bear Ursus maritimus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa. vii + 75 pp.

COSEWIC. 2002. COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the polar bear Ursus maritimus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa. vi + 29 pp.

Stirling, I., and M.K. Taylor. 1999. Update COSEWIC status report on the polar bear Ursus maritimus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa. 27 pp.

Stirling, I. 1991. Update COSEWIC status report on the polar bear Ursus maritimus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa. 24 pp.

Stirling, I. 1986. COSEWIC status report on the polar bear Ursus maritimus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa. 20 pp.

Production note: COSEWIC would like to acknowledge Vicki Sahanatien, Andrew E. Derocher, and Gregory Thiemann for writing the status report on Polar Bear in Canada, prepared under contract with Environment and Climate Change Canada. This report was overseen and edited by Graham Forbes, Co-chair of the COSEWIC Terrestrial Mammals Specialist Subcommittee, with the support of the members of the Terrestrial Mammals Specialist Subcommittee.

For additional copies contact:

COSEWIC Secretariat c/o Canadian Wildlife Service Environment and Climate Change Canada Ottawa, ON K1A 0H3

Tel.: 819-938-4125 Fax: 819-938-3984 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.cosewic.gc.ca

Également disponible en français sous le titre Ếvaluation et Rapport de situation du COSEPAC sur L’ours blanc (Ursus maritimus) au Canada.

Cover illustration/photo: Polar Bear — Photo by V. Sahanatien.

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2018. Catalogue No. CW69-14/351-2019E-PDF ISBN 978-0-660-31253-8 COSEWIC Assessment Summary

Assessment Summary – November 2018 Common name Polar Bear Scientific name Ursus maritimus Status Special Concern Reason for designation This apex predator depends on the availability of sea ice from which to hunt its preferred prey—ice-adapted seals. Reduction in the area and period of sea ice coverage due to climate warming in the Canadian , with consequent reductions in feeding opportunity, is the primary threat to the persistence of this species. However, the magnitude of the impact on population numbers is uncertain and will vary across the range. Population levels and trends are currently uncertain, as population estimates undertaken since the last COSEWIC assessment in 2008 exist for less than half the range and survey methodology has changed. This precludes the use of quantitative trend analysis for most of the Canadian population. The total population in Canada likely exceeds 10,000 mature individuals. ATK indicates stable or increasing populations in all 13 management units, while scientific knowledge suggests a decline associated with poorer body condition, decreasing productivity, and sea ice decline in three management units in the southern part of the range. The Canadian population is predicted to decline over the next three generations (35 years) due to a reduction in seasonal coverage of sea ice. This species may become Threatened in the future because the effects