The IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG) is composed of active polar bear researchers from the five circumpolar nations—Canada, Greenland/Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States.
The group formed in 1965 in response to severe over-hunting of polar bears in the 1950s and '60s that threatened the bears with extinction. Careful management allowed polar bear populations to rebound. Today, delegates agree that unprecedented sea ice losses from global warming pose the biggest threat to the bears.
The PBSG meets every three to four years. At the last meeting, scientists from the following agencies and universities attended:
Canada
Greenland/Denmark
- Department of Fisheries, Hunting and Agriculture
- Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
- National Environmental Research Institute
Norway
- Directorate for Nature Management
- Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
- Norwegian Polar Institute
Russia
- All-Russian Research Institute for Nature Protection
- Wrangel Island Nature Reserve
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences
United States
