Alaska polar bear sightseeing rise

USA Today reports on Alaska's boom in polar bear tourism.

It's not hard to understand the allure of these giant white bears. Regal and majestic, but also somehow cuddly, there is a natural magnetism that draws us. Add the sense that their future is in doubt, and it translates into heightened public interest in seeing bears. Worldwide, there are 19 known polar bear populations, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Two are in Alaska— the other is in the Chukchi Sea on the western coast.

In May 2008, the polar bear was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act after research indicated the sea ice vital to the bears' existence is declining. The decline is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Read the full story: Polar bear tourism booms on Alaska's North Slope

Photo by Steve Amstrup / U.S. Fish and Wild Life Service

Polar bears, see before extinct

The Los Angeles Times reports on a small Canadian town besieged by polar bear viewing tourists - and because the bear was officially designated as endangered - will most likely see a tourist upswing.

"Tourists come to Churchill, a town about six blocks long, to see the bears; there are about 900 polar bears in the area. They go out on the tundra in buggies, peer at the animals through windows of the specially designed vehicles and get super-close to the bears -- without setting foot in their habitat."

But some tour operators are hopeful that the endangered tag will bring better protection to the bears as well as more recognition of the affects of global warming on melting ice.

Read the full story: Now endangered, polar bears a bigger draw to Churchill, Canada