1&7 



part of the range is real good, and the population has not yet been 

 brought back to anywhere near what that will support up there. 



The ancestral range from Puget Sound northward clear out to the 

 Aleutians could still support a lot more animals, and that is the pur- 

 pose of the transplants that have recently been made, transplants 

 which, incidentally, appear to be eminently successful. 



Mr. Anderson. Thank you. Thank you, Mr .Chairman. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Mr. Goodling? 



Mr. Goodling. Thank you, Mr. Ohairman. 



Doctor, you say the Department is now working toward an inter- 

 national agreemeait on polar bear. 



With what countries are you working ? 



Dr. LiNDusKA. Russia, Norway, Denmark, and Canada. 



Mr. Goodling. How much jurisdiction does the United States have 

 on the polar bear range? 



Dr. LiNDusKA. None at the moment. They come under jurisdiction 

 of the State of Alaska out to the 3-mile limit ; and beyond that, there 

 is no jurisdiction. The Federal Government has no jurisdiction what- 

 soever at that point. 



Mr. Goodling. Are you having a reasonable amount of success and 

 cooperation from these countries ? 



Dr. LiNDUSKA. Yes; I think the international understanding is 

 good. There is a very active interest in all nations concerned at the 

 moment. 



What we have done as a Federal agency is to employ a full-time 

 man, Mr. Jim Brooks, to study the polar bear in Alaska, a second 

 biologist employed by the State is working on the same problem. 



Mr. Brooks has ben very active in the international considerations 

 that have been given to polar bears, and we, of course, expect to con- 

 tinue that in every way we can. 



At the moment, the dearth of knowledge that surrounds the polar 

 bear is a real limitation on how we can manage the animal. 



We are not even sure, Mr, Goodling, whether we are talking about 

 one homogeneous herd or whether there are two or three or more sub- 

 species or physiological races involved, some of which appear off of 

 the European Arctic as compared to what we have off our Canadian 

 and U.S. waters. 



We have not even clarified that point at this time. 



Mr. Goodling. We originally passed a bill prohibiting the shooting 

 of game by airplane. I do not believe many polar bear are shot from 

 airplanes, but I know they shoot them from planes and then land, 

 and it is rather simple to get your game doing that. 



Do other countries do the ^ime thing ? 



Dr. LiNDUSKA. It mainly occurs in hunting off Alaska. 



I might mention in that connection, the State of Alaska has legis- 

 lation in the hopper which would prohibit the taking of polar bear by 

 means of aircraft, beginning in 1973. 



If this happens, it will bring a lot more order and consideration 

 to the taking of polar bears off our Alaskan coast, but I should say in 

 addition to that, we still need Federal legislation to give tlie type of 

 protection to the animal that it needs because of the inability of the 

 State of Alaska to exercise their authority beyond the 3-mile limit. 



It is my understanding that some illegal kill is effected beyond that 

 3-mile limit and brought into this country. Since there is no existing 

 law to cover it, there is nothing we can do about it. 



