The polar bear is classified as a vulnerable species, with eight of the nineteen polar bear subpopulations in decline.[7] For decades, large scale hunting raised international concern for the future of the species but populations rebounded after controls and quotas began to take effect.[citation needed] For thousands of years, the polar bear has been a key figure in the material, spiritual, and cultural life of Arcticindigenous peoples, and polar bears remain important in their cultures. The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a carnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is a large bear, approximately the same size as the omnivorous Kodiak bear(Ursus arctos middendorffi).[3] A boar (adult male) weighs around 350–700 kg (770–1,540 lb),[4] while a sow (adult female) is about half that size. Although it is the sister species of the brown bear,[5] it has evolved to occupy a narrower ecological
The polar bear is classified as a vulnerable species, with eight of the nineteen polar bear subpopulations in decline.[7] For decades, large scale hunting raised international concern for the future of the species but populations rebounded after controls and quotas began to take effect.[citation needed] For thousands of years, the polar bear has been a key figure in the material, spiritual, and cultural life of Arcticindigenous peoples, and polar bears remain important in their cultures. The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a carnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is a large bear, approximately the same size as the omnivorous Kodiak bear(Ursus arctos middendorffi).[3] A boar (adult male) weighs around 350–700 kg (770–1,540 lb),[4] while a sow (adult female) is about half that size. Although it is the sister species of the brown bear,[5] it has evolved to occupy a narrower ecological