There’s been much fear and consternation over the potential loss of the polar bears as a result of the rapid melting of polar ice. Many environmentalists have adopted the polar bear as their symbol of the dangers of global warming.
With this in mind, I think that it might be prudent to revisit the Oslo Agreement, which permits the hunting of this vulnerable species. The treaty allows hunting “by local people using traditional methods,” although member nations have liberally interpreted this provision. All nations except Norway allow hunting by the Inuit, and Canada and Denmark allow tourists to hunt trophies.
More than a thousand polar bears per year are killed under the auspices of this treaty.
While I believe that the preservation of longstanding Native American traditions is a good thing, there are certain customs that we may want to put the kibosh on. For example, scalping was a common practice for certain tribes of North American Indians, but we don’t allow this sort of thing to take place today.
If we are really concerned about the possible extinction of polar bears, why not keep the bullets and arrows out of their heads?
