U.S. Government Proposes Polar Bears as a Threatened Species

Send your comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via our email form below

On December 27, 2006, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would propose that the polar bear — Bowdoin's mascot and an animal closely linked to generations of Bowdoin students — be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Bowdoin Mascot, Polar BearDuring 2007, the Service will gather additional information and conduct an investigation into the plight of the polar bear, which many scientists believe are threatened by receding sea ice where the animals typically hunt for prey. As part of its investigation and analysis, the Service has invited public comment on the proposal to list the polar bear as a threatened species, and will accept comment through April 9, 2007.

This Web page has been created to inform members of the Bowdoin community about this endangered species process, to raise awareness about the plight of the polar bear, and to provide easy access to the following additional information available on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Web site:

The polar bear first became the College mascot in 1913. As noted in the January 21, 1913 edition of The Bowdoin Orient (Bowdoin's student newspaper), the polar bear was selected as Bowdoin's official mascot in recognition of the exploration of the polar region by Bowdoin alumni Thomas H. Hubbard of the Class of 1857, Robert E. Peary of the Class of 1877, and Donald B. MacMillan of the Class of 1898.


Save Bowdoin's Mascot
Send your comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has solicited comments from the public on its proposal to to list the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

The Service will consider all comments received by the close of business (5:00 p.m.) Alaska Local Time (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on April 9, 2007.

If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments and materials by any one of several methods:

  1. You may add you name and address to the Web form below and send the prepared text via e-mail;
  2. You may submit written comments to the Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Mammals Management Office, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, Alaska 99503;
  3. You may hand deliver written comments to the Marine Mammals Management Office at the above address; or
  4. You may send comments by electronic mail (e-mail). You may send your comments by electronic mail (email) directly to the Service at: Polar_Bear_Finding@fws.gov or to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.

To: Supervisor U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Mammals Management Office

From :   *required

Email :  *required

To Whom it May Concern,

Thank you for proposing to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Listing polar bears as threatened is a critical step necessary to protect these majestic animals and to ensure their survival.

The plight of the polar bear is of great concern to members of the Bowdoin College community. The polar bear is our college mascot and an animal that is beloved by thousands of Bowdoin alumni across America and around the world.

The polar bear is also a symbolic reminder at Bowdoin of our college's long history of Arctic exploration and research. Bowdoin men and women have been traveling to and studying the Arctic since the mid-nineteenth century. Among our alumni are polar explorers Robert E. Peary and Donald B. MacMillan whose expeditions and research are chronicled in Bowdoin's Peary MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center. Today, Bowdoin researchers continue to travel to the Arctic and to study, among other things, the effects of climate change on this fragile region. We are concerned not only about the polar bear, but also about the impact their diminishing numbers will have on the ecology of the region.

I support the petition to classify the polar bear as threatened based on the large volume of compelling information about significant changes in the polar bear's Arctic sea ice habitat.

Thank you.


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