http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=59ba23af-4c4e-46f3-a81b-fdee2102c482

Inuit leaders criticize move to label polar bears
News Services
Published: Tuesday, January 15, 2008

OTTAWA -- Leaders of Canada's Arctic Inuit people denounced U.S. environmentalists Monday for pushing Washington to declare the polar bear a threatened species, saying the move was unnecessary and would hurt the local economy. The U.S. last week delayed a decision on whether global warming threatened polar bears on the grounds that it needed more time to analyze the data. Three U.S. green groups said they would sue for quicker action. The Inuit fear that if Washington does declare the bear a threatened species, it will deter U.S. hunters, who spend millions of dollars a year for the right to shoot the animals in the Canadian Arctic. Environmentalists say global warming is shrinking the sea ice that polar bears use as a platform to hunt seals.