Canadian Inuit reduce polar bear quota

IQALUIT, Nunavut, March 5 (UPI) -- The Canadian territorial government of Nunavut announced a reduction Friday in the quota of polar bears Inuit hunters are allowed to kill each year.

Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk announced in Iqaluit the existing quota of 105 bears per year will be reduced by 10 for the next four years, effective this year, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The hunting area is in Baffin Bay, which separates northeastern Canada from Greenland.

Biologists say the number of polar bears in the area is shrinking, but Inuit hunters maintain the population is growing, the CBC said.

On Tuesday, Shewchuk told reporters he had written to 175 countries asking them to vote against a U.S.-sponsored ban on the commercial trade of polar bear products. The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species will vote on the proposal later this month in Doha, Qatar, the CBC said.