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Protect Polar Bear Cubs in the Arctic from Oil and Gas Drilling

Dear John,

Polar bears are a federally protected species facing numerous threats, including climate change, habitat loss, and most recently, oil and gas development ([link removed]) in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). In 2017, Congress authorized drilling in the coastal plain of this protected area, which serves as breeding grounds for numerous species and as denning habitat for the Southern Beaufort Sea (SBS) population of polar bears. Last month, the Bureau of Land Management, after conducting a hasty and incomplete analysis of environmental impacts, approved oil and gas development in ANWR. In response, Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) has introduced the Polar Bear Cub Survival Act (H.R. 7876), which would prohibit any oil and gas activities from occurring within one mile of polar bear denning habitat in the coastal plain.

This habitat is crucial to the development and preservation of an already at-risk species. The SBS polar bear population experienced a 50 percent decline between 1986 and 2010 due to low cub survival rates and other factors related to climate change. Cubs weigh about a pound at birth, are totally dependent on their mothers for sustenance in their early months, and typically remain with their mothers during their first two and a half years.

Oil and gas activities will bring noise, heavy machinery, industrial vehicles, and large teams of people to ANWR. These activities are likely to destroy dens and stress polar bears, discouraging normal behaviors such as denning. Mothers may abandon dens, leaving cubs unlikely to survive. Recent studies have also raised concerns about the technology used by oil and gas companies to detect dens, as more than 50 percent are not found. It is therefore important not merely to protect known dens, but to protect denning habitat.

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What You Can Do
AWI strongly opposes oil and gas activities in ANWR. If drilling is to occur, establishing protections for polar bear denning habitat is critical. Please ask your US representative ([link removed]) to cosponsor the Polar Bear Cub Survival Act. Then share this eAlert with your family, friends, and co-workers, and ask them to take action to protect polar bears and their denning habitat as well.

As always, thank you very much for your help!

Sincerely,

Cathy Liss
President

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Photo by Elena Birkina

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Animal Welfare Institute
900 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20003
(202) 337-2332 | www.awionline.org ([link removed])

The Animal Welfare Institute is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1951 and dedicated to reducing animal suffering caused by people. We seek better treatment of animals everywhere: in the laboratory, on the farm, in commerce, at home, and in the wild.

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