| Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) have evolved to exploit the biologically productive Arctic sea ice niche by using it as a platform to prey upon marine mammals (Amstrup 2003). Before European exploration, this habitat specialization likely kept them separated from most people, and thus helped reduce human-bear conflicts. However, the extent of human-polar bear interactions began to change in the sixteenth century with the advent of widespread maritime exploration. Historical records provide some insight into the nexus between human and bear behavior and help inform current efforts to reduce human-polar bear conflict. Although the Arctic has been inhabited by Indigenous people in relatively low numbers for thousands of years, the first recorded polar bear attack we found dates to 1595 when 2 members of William Barent’s second expedition were reportedly killed and eaten by a polar bear in the Russian Arctic (de Veer 1876). The incident occurred on 6 September on an islet near Vaygach Island. Two men were lying in a wind-free depression resting, when: “a great leane white beare came sodainly stealing out, and caught one of them fast by the necke, the beare at the first faling vpon the man, bit his head in sunder.” The ship’s crew rallied, and tried to drive the bear off of the victim: “hauing charged their peeces and bent their pikes, set vpon her, that still was deuouring the man, but perceiuiug them to come towards her, fiercely and cruelly ran at them, and gat another of them out from the companie, which she tare in peeces, wherewith all the rest ran away (de Veer 1876:63).” Eventually the crew was able to again rally, and finally killed the bear as it continued to devour its victims. The vivid account provided by de Veer demonstrates the potential danger of polar bears, and is consistent in many respects with what we have learned from more recent attacks. Continued European expansion into the Arctic led to increased conflict with, and exploitation of, polar bears (Conway et al. 1904). For example, a commercial expedition to Svalbard in 1610 reported killing 27 polar bears and catching 5 cubs (Lønø 1970). Commercial polar bear hunting continued through the centuries. In the early decades of the twentieth century, hundreds of bears were harvested on Svalbard annually. In 1924 alone, at least 901 polar bears were harvested on Svalbard (Lønø 1970). The widespread use of fossil fuels further accelerated human access to remote areas of the Arctic, resulting in significant hunting pressure on polar bears throughout their range after World War II. As a result, by the 1960s, the most significant threat facing polar bears was over-hunting, and populations in some areas were considered to be substantially reduced (Larsen 1975). To address these and other conservation concerns, in 1973 the 5 polar bear countries (Canada, Denmark [on behalf of Greenland], Norway, the former Soviet Union, and the United States) signed the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears (1973 Agreement). The 1973 Agreement requires the 5 signatory countries (the Range States) to restrict the taking of polar bears and manage polar bear subpopulations in accordance with sound conservation practices based on the best available scientific data (DeMaster and Stirling 1981, Prestrud and Sterling 1994, Larsen and Stirling 2009). |