The world population of polar bears is estimated to be from 20,000 to 25,000, Dave Garshelis says. It's divided among five countries (U.S., Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Norway/Svalbard and Russia). It's made up of 19 sub-populations, including the one Garshelis is working with at Foxe Basin.
Canada is estimated to have about 67 percent of the world's polar bears, and the Nunavut Territory is estimated to have about 45 percent. Polar bears in the U.S. were recently listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. In Canada, polar bears are listed as a species of "special concern" under a similar law.
The Nunavut territory has about one polar bear for every three people.
