Polar bears wanted dead, not alive

U.S. polar bear decision condemned in NorthCondemnation came swiftly from Canada's North to Wednesday's decision by the U.S. government to list polar bears as a threatened species, as Inuit groups and northern politicians denounced the bears' new status.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne made the announcement in Washington on Wednesday, saying the decision was based on findings that bears' Arctic sea ice habitat has dramatically melted in recent decades.

While environmental activists applauded the move, people in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories say it runs contrary to observations by Inuit that polar bear populations are on the rise in some areas.

The decision will also effectively kill the American sport hunt that brings more than $3 million a year to the Canadian Arctic.