No polar bear ban at UN conservation meeting

DOHA, Qatar - A US-backed proposal to ban the international trade of polar bear skins, teeth and claws was defeated on Thursday at a UN wildlife meeting overcritical to their economies. Only 2 percent of Canadian polar bears are internationally traded and the country strictly manages the commerce, Canada said.

Frank Pokiak, an indigenous leader from Canada, said communities in the Arctic have hunted bears for generations, mostly for meat to eat and pelts for clothing and shelter. He said they hunt them in a sustainable way and would continue doing so with or without an international ban.

The big white bear, the world's largest land meat-eater, "nanuq" to the Inuit, may be uniquely susceptible to climate change as rising temperatures fast shrink its habitat, the Arctic sea ice.