1. What is a 5-year review and why are they done?
A 5-year review is a review of the status of species listed under the Endangered Species Act that is conducted at least once every five years. The purpose of a 5-year review is to ensure listed species have the appropriate level of protection under the act. The reviews assess each threatened and endangered species to determine whether information gathered since the time of the species’ listing or last status review suggests the species’ classification as threatened or endangered should be changed. Any change in federal status requires a separate rulemaking process that is open to public comment.
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2. What are the potential outcomes of a 5-year review?
After reviewing and considering the best available Western science and commercial information and interviews with Indigenous Knowledge Bearers regarding the species, we recommend whether a change in the federal status of the listed species is warranted. We could make one of four possible recommendations:
Reclassify the species from threatened to endangered (uplist).
Reclassify the species from endangered to threatened (downlist).
Remove the species from the list (delist).
If a recommendation is made to reclassify or remove the species from the list, a proposed rule would be published for public comment.
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3. What is the outcome of the polar bear 5-year review?
After thorough data review and analysis, we concluded the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) continues to meet the definition of threatened (likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future). As a result, we recommend no status change at this time. New information continues to support the conclusion that polar bears rely heavily on sea ice for survival, and increasing atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases are contributing to Arctic warming and continued loss of sea ice habitat. Although the global population of polar bears is currently estimated to be approximately 26,000 (95% CI = 22,000–31,000; Wiig et al. 2015), we anticipate the continued loss of sea ice (e.g., Douglas and Atwood 2022) will cause the population to decline (e.g., Atwood et al. 2016, Molnár et al. 2020).
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4. What did the Service consider in its review?
The 5-year review began with the gathering the best Western science, commercial information and Indigenous Knowledge. We initiated the process by publishing a notice in the Federal Register and reaching out directly to our Indigenous partners to let the interested parties know that we were reviewing the status of the polar bear and requested any relevant information we should consider, in particular any information that had become available since polar bears were listed as threatened in 2008 (80 FR 61443). Such information included:
Species biology, including but not limited to population trends, distribution, abundance, demographics, and genetics.
Habitat conditions, including but not limited to amount, distribution, and suitability.
Conservation measures that have benefited the species.
Threat status and trends.
Other new information, data, or corrections, including but not limited to changes in taxonomy or nomenclature and identification of erroneous information contained in the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.
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5. Why is the polar bear listed as threatened under the ESA?
Using the best available science, the Service determined the polar bear is not currently in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. In our analysis, we considered all the threats to the polar bear, including habitat, principally sea ice, which is declining throughout the species’ range and is expected to continue to decline for the foreseeable future. We also considered utilization and subsistence harvest of the species and determined these activities do not threaten the species. However, we found if these factors are not carefully monitored or managed, they could exacerbate the effects of habitat loss for several populations and become a threat within the foreseeable future. Further, we considered disease, predation, contaminants and other stressors and determined that while they did not threaten the species, they may within the foreseeable future become more significant stressors on polar bear populations, especially those experiencing nutritional stress or declining population levels.
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6. What is the Service doing to address stressors to polar bears identified in the species status review?
As noted in the Species Status Assessment, the Service is working on several fronts to understand and monitor the other stressors that may be affecting subpopulations of polar bears. In particular, a priority for the Service is to work with co-management, community, and industry partners to monitor and manage human-bear interactions throughout Alaska. This includes working with the Alaska Nannut Co-management Council, the North Slope Borough, and Alaska Native communities and hunters to monitor the subsistence harvest of polar bears and manage human-bear conflicts through the Polar Bear Patrol Program. Additionally, the Service works closely with industry to help them avoid, minimize, and/or mitigate the effects of their current and prospective operations on bears through incidental take authorizations. We also work to prevent human-polar bear conflicts and document and learn from incidents to improve our guidelines to minimize conflicts with polar bears.
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7. Will the public be given an opportunity to provide comments on the 5-year review?
The 5-year review is an internal agency staff analysis that makes a classification recommendation. As such, it is not a decision document nor is it a proposal for change. We solicit information from the public to inform our recommendation, but we do not solicit public comments on the recommendation itself. If the recommendation were to reclassify polar bears or remove them from the list, we would have initiated a regulatory process that involved public comment. However, because we are recommending no change in the status of polar bears, no further action will be taken.
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8. Where can I find more information about polar bears and the 5-year review process?
Additional information on polar bears can be found at:
https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/4958
https://www.fws.gov/species/polar-bear-ursus-maritimus
Five-year Status Reviews
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