Forty percent of polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea in northeast Alaska and Canada are gone – lost because of climate change. At this rate polar bears will be wiped from the face of the earth by 2100.

Animal loving Americans must unite to save polar bear cubs

The present US administration is encouraging oil drilling and exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) a major home for polar bears. The first leases could be issued before the end of the year. When drilling begins it will inevitably result in new-born polar bear cubs and their mothers being brutely killed in devastating numbers.

The exploration will destroy the bears’ protective dens, forcing the mothers to flee, leaving their babies behind to die alone and afraid. Polar bear cubs are small and helpless, born with their eyes closed. They cannot survive without their mothers. An additional nightmare is that because the white bears dig down into the white snow to create dens for their cubs, drivers of the heavy exploration vehicles do not know they are there and will drive over the dens killing the babies.

Do the lives of innocent creatures mean nothing – is money all that matters?

Between 2001 and 2010, polar bear populations in the refuge dropped to 900 bears. What makes this even more concerning is that, because of climate change, polar bears increasingly rely on the Refuge for breeding.

ASI supports a bill introduced to the US Congress by Jared Huffman, chairperson of the US Natural Resources Subcommittee. If passed, the bill will prohibit oil and gas activities within a mile of areas where polar bears create maternal dens by digging in snowbanks.

The current administration is fighting this legislation, and sadly, without more support, the bill is unlikely to succeed. If you live in the US, you can help by writing to your Member of Congress and ask them to cosponsor the Polar Bear Survival Act (H.R. 7876).

If you live elsewhere in the world, please help us raise public awareness about the catastrophe that is about to befall polar bears by sharing this email. What is about to happen in the Arctic Refuge is a disgrace. All of us who care about our fellow creatures must do all we can to fight the destruction of polar bear habitat.

Help us ensure polar bears are able to live and breed in safety. Your donation in any amount will help us keep fighting for creatures who will otherwise be wiped from the face of the earth.