Wildlife charity backs policy of exploitation of small number of some endangered species for economic purposes – such as trophy hunting.
The wildlife charity WWF has been working to support the trade in polar bear fur at the same time as using images of the bears to raise money, it can be revealed.
Polar bears are severely affected by the loss of Arctic sea ice, which makes seeking prey harder and forces the bears to use more energy. In some regions, polar bears are showing signs of declining physical condition, having fewer cubs, and dying younger.
Despite their endangered status, polar bears are hunted commercially in Canada, the only country that still allows the practice after it was banned by Russia, Greenland, the US and Norway. An annual average of 300–400 skins are exported, primarily to China, where a full pelt sells for an average of $60,000 (£48,000) and is often used for luxury clothing or as a rug.
I'm gonna add some context to this that seems to be missing ...
polar bears are starving because of the loss of sea ice
polar bears are strictly carnivores, not omnivores -- so their diet is meat only
with the lack of sea ice they are spending more time on land searching for food ... so they end up in communities at dump sites ... and end up in interactions with humans
this has led Greenpeace and WWF to give tacit support to controlled harvests
in the last 40 years polar bear populations have declined by 50%, mostly due to climate change (which leads to starvation)
stopping climate change will help the bears far more than just stopping hunts