565 



To facilitate free discussion, it was decided at the outset to limit attendance 

 to working scientists having direct responsibilities for polar bear research, man- 

 agement and conservation in their respective countries. 



RESEARCH PROGRESS 



Reports on research programs revealed that all of the nations, with the 

 exception of Denmark, had greatly increased research efforts since the earlier 

 meeting in 1968 ; that there had been freer and more effective exchange of scien- 

 tific data and persomiel among the five countries ; and that significant progress 

 had been made toward the original research objectives. 



Much discussion was devoted to the development and improvement of tech- 

 niques for live capture and tagging. This work has been carried out successfully 

 during the last two years on a cooperative international basis (primarily by 

 Canada, Xon\^ay and the United States), and over 450 polar bears have now 

 been tagged. Data returns from this and related research indicated that there 

 may be at least five more-or-less separate or discrete populations of polar bear 

 rather than one large circumpolar population moving freely about the Arctic, 

 as earlier believed. The.se are located in: (1) the Spitzbergen-Franz Joseph 

 Land — east Greenland region, (2) the Hudson Bay region of Canada, (3) the 

 high Canadian Arctic, (4) the high Canada — eastern Alaska region, and (5) the 

 western Alaska and eastern U.S.S.R. region. 



Radio telemetry equipment for tracking polar bear migrations was also dis- 

 cussed in detail, especially the recent experiments in Canada and Alaska aimed at 

 developing new types of equipment which promises to increase greatly the 

 effectiveness of this technique. 



Significant progress was also revealed in the location of important polar bear 

 denning areas throughout the Arctic. Each year pregnant females invariably 

 resort to certain specified area in October or November where they den and 

 bear their cubs. Knowing the location of major denning areas is of great im- 

 portance in understanding the range and distribution of the species. Also, since 

 these areas are widely scattered and limited in number, their discovery and pro- 

 tection is of utmost significance for the .survival of the species. The main areas 

 so far delineated are in the U.S.S.R. and Canada Avnth minor areas found in 

 Greenland and Spitzbergen. Only a very few dens have been located in Alaska. 

 Polar bears along the Alaska coast most likely move in annually from eastern 

 Siberia and from western Canada. An im'portant finding was that Kong Karls 

 Land, once thought to be a major denning area, is perhaps relatively insignificant ; 

 most polar bears moving into the Spitzbergen region appear to come from the 

 Soviet Union on the westward moving ice. 



The Danish delegate, Dr. Christian Vibe, stressetl the importance of gaining 

 much more precise knowledge about climate and sea ice conditions in order 

 to understand both the movements and size of iwlar bear i>opulations. His work 

 over several decades has shown this to be of primary importance in understand- 

 ing population dynamics of polar bear and other wildlife species in Greenland, 

 and it is very likely highly relevant for all Arctic regions. Dr. Vibe indicated 

 that ix)lar bear research had been hami>ered in Greenland by lack of staff 

 and funds, but plans are being made by the Danish government to launch a 

 tagging program in 1971 in cooperation with Canada and Norway. 



Good cooperation has occurred among the five nations in respect to other 

 important rei?earch needs, with nation accepting certain primary responsibil- 

 ities. Food haibitat studies as well as behavioral studies have been carried 

 fonvard successfully by Canadian cooperation with several universities. Primary 

 resi)onsibility for important physiological studies has been taken by Norwegian 

 scientists, while scientists from other countries have taken the initiative to 

 coordinate taxonomy studies, including morphometric and electrophoretic studies' 

 of blood samples which are important in determining the possible existence of 

 discrete populations or races of polar bear. The work by Canada in analyzing 

 the concentration of DDT in fat tissues of polar bears was also discussed, 

 and plans were made to extend this work internationally on a cooperative basis. 



CONSERVATION PROGRESS 



Reports on conservation measures disclo.sed that the five nations had been 

 relatively successful in maintaining the status quo \\ith resi)ect to the total an- 

 nual kill of polar bear within their respective jurisdictions. (The scientists es- 

 timated that a total of around 1250 i>olar bears had been killed throughout the 

 the Arctic in 1969. 



