Polar bears may be listed as threatened species

The US Interior secretary wants to list polar bears as a threatened species because of concerns that their habitat is melting away. From CNN:

The announcement by the Bush administration comes in response to a lawsuit filed by three conservation groups, who sued the Department of the Interior in an effort to protect the polar bear from the effects of global warming.

"The science is extraordinarily clear: Global warming in the Arctic threatens polar bears," said Kassie Siegel, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity based in Tucson, Arizona.

Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council are the other groups that were part of the lawsuit.

Kempthorne said the proposal to consider polar bears threatened involved the receding sea ice that the animals use for hunting. While he acknowledged that the melting ice is the result of climate change, Kempthorne stressed that the broader aspects of global warming are beyond the scope of the Endangered Species Act and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency that enforces it.

It's great that finally the US government is doing something really good for wildlife but this may be too late. Listing the polar bears as a threatened species will highlight the problems that these great animals are facing today but more needs to be done to ensure their survival and other animals like them that are struggling with the effects of global warming.

All life on earth is precious. We need to protect them all. Because if we don't, very soon it will be us humans that need the protection.

Previously: Pledge your love to the polar bears and win