Problems in conservation of mammals in the North

Abstract

Oil development, tourism, and expanding human populations, are bringing about increased pressures on large mammals in the Arctic and Subarctic. Management of marine mammals requires close international cooperation, and recent protection offered to the Polar Bear on a circumpolar basis is the result of such cooperation. Currently, Seals in northern waters, with the possible exception of the Harp Seal, are not being over-harvested. However, there is concern that whaling interests in the North Pacific may turn to harvesting Seals and Walrus in the Bering Sea, and misguided efforts of animal protection societies threaten to disrupt management of the Northern Fur Seal. Large land carnivores are precariously close to extinction in Scandinavia, and although partial protection has recently been given to the Wolf and Bear in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, viable Wolf populations may no longer exist. In the USSR, although Bears and Wolves are persistently hunted wherever they are in conflict with animal husbundry, appreciable numbers continue to exist in the more remote areas. In Alaska, Wolf populations are expanding as a result of partial removal of bounties and stronger restrictions on aerial hunting. Oil development threatens the welfare of mammals in the North through obstruction of movements by pipelines, harassment by aircraft and other disturbances, and the impact from increased human populations.