The Polar Bear Conservancy's plan is to relocate 3,000 polar bears from the Northern Arctic, where global climate change is melting native habitat, to the stable ice sheets of Antarctica.

The Polar Bear Conservancy will begin relocation of the first Arctic polar bears to Antarctica on Earth Day, April 22, 2008. The relocation will be the initial step in a planned five-year program to migrate 3,000 polar bears from the Northern Arctic to the southern continent of Antarctica.

Scientists say polar bears face near-certain extinction by 2020 as global climate change accelerates melting of their habitat in the Northern Arctic. Antarctica, in contrast, can be a viable home for the bears. Though experiencing melting of its own, the southernmost continent still has sufficient ice coverage to support the polar bear indefinitely in its traditional climate, and it has abundant food stocks, including penguins, seals, dolphins, and migratory whales. (read less)

The Polar Bear Conservancy's plan is to relocate 3,000 polar bears from the Northern Arctic, where global climate change is melting native habitat, to the stable ice sheets of Antarctica.

The Polar Bear Conservancy will begin relocation of the first Arctic polar bears to Antarctica on Earth Day, April 22, 2008. The relocation will be the initial step in a planned five-year program to migrate 3,000 polar bears from the Northern Arctic to the southern continent of Antarctica.

Scientists say... (read more)