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drinking mother's milk starts life with a similar level of accumulated poisons to his or her mother. Being at the top of their food chain, they then accumulate more from their diet, each generation ending up having higher levels than the one before.

It is estimated that one in a million genetic mutations may be beneficial, even if this was one in a thousand, the increased infant mortality of polar bear cubs this is likely to foresee may well exceed any survival problem incurred from global warming. It would be appallingly sad for us to succeed at slowing down global warming to the extent necessary to preserve polar bears only to see them die out anyway from the pollutants we have so casually discarded into the world we all share.

That is however, not all they face. Due to uncontrolled hunting through to the 1950s, polar bear numbers in the wild were reduced to an estimated 5,000. This led to the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears signed in 1973 by the governments of all nations controlling territory inhabited by polar bears. How much protection this actually supplies to polar bears varies. The illegal trade in polar bear skins and parts is big business. Organized poaching groups are often more numerous and better armed than the law-enforcement groups opposing them, especially in current day Russia. Even when successful in capturing poachers, bribable judiciary may release the culprits.

As wild numbers decrease, the value of their pelts and organs increase. The intensity and greed of their poachers will only increase as well. Following the self-centered nature and desires of their customers.

Unfortunately polar bears also face "legitimate" killing. As the ice takes longer to form, polar bears congregate in coastal regions for longer periods of time than previously. This is at the end of their hibernation period, understandably they are very hungry and not in the best of moods. The extended duration of their presence is increasing ecotourism ventures to "see" the polar bears. All factors considered it is hardly surprising that some bears are considered an endangerment to humans. Sometimes that is in expanded human communities where these ecotourism ventures are occurring and sometimes in mining situations that are encroaching on their habitual ranges.

Despite these appalling handicaps to their continued existence, the Canadian and Russian governments still allow a limited amount of trophy hunting of polar bears to occur. Enforcement agencies

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