Groups want import ban on polar bear hides lifted

The hunting group Safari Club International has filed a notice of its intent to sue to overturn the ban, which was put in place last month when U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne declared polar bears a threatened species.

The group seeks to overturn the ban not just for bears already killed but also for kills by club members who booked and paid for hunts in 2009 and 2010.

Supporters of the ban say sport hunting adds stress to polar bears already menaced by a loss of sea ice, their main habitat.

"Until we take steps to address global warming, we need to do all we can to relieve further threats that are accelerating the bears' downward spiral, including the trophy hunting of polar bears in Canada," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.

Kempthorne on May 15 declared polar bears threatened, or likely to become endangered in the future, because of habitat loss.

Trophy hunting of bears in Alaska has been banned since 1972. Canada allows the sport hunting of polar bears, but it restricts the hunting season to two months and limits the number of kills.

Importation had been allowed through an amendment to the Marine Mammal Protection Act passed by Congress in 1994.

Kempthorne, however, declared polar bears threatened throughout their range, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service withdrew authorization to import hides from animals killed in approved populations in Canada--including those already killed and awaiting a taxidermist mount.

Safari Club International attorney Doug Burdin said Wednesday that a listing under the Endangered Species Act does not create an import ban. The Fish and Wildlife Service did not follow the law in banning hides, he said.