Gulf of Boothia (GB)

Status table outtake

Table comment: 11% of PVA simulations resulted in population decline after 10 years. Population has high vital rates and low harvest rates.

The population boundaries of the Gulf of Boothia (GB) subpopulation are based on genetic studies (Paetkau et al. 1999), movements of tagged bears (Stirling et al. 1978, Taylor and Lee 1995), movements of adult females with satellite radio-collars in GB and adjacent areas (Taylor et al. 2001a), and interpretations by local Inuit hunters of how local conditions influence the movements of polar bears in the area. An initial subpopulation estimate of 333 bears was derived from the data collected within the boundaries proposed for GB, as part of a study conducted over a larger area of the central Arctic (Furnell and Schweinsburg 1984). Although population data from this area were limited, local hunters reported that numbers remained constant or increased since the time of the central Arctic polar bear survey. Based on TEK, recognition of sampling deficiencies, and polar bear densities in other areas, an interim subpopulation estimate of 900 was established in the 1990s. Following the completion of a mark-recapture inventory in spring 2000, the subpopulation was estimated to number 1,523 ± 285 bears (Taylor et al. 2009). Natural survival and recruitment rates were estimated at values higher than the previous standardized estimates (Taylor et al. 1987). Taylor et al. (2009) concluded that the subpopulation was increasing in 2000, as a result of high intrinsic rate of growth and low harvest. However, harvest rates have increased to a 5-year mean of 60 bears per year, from 40 bears per year reported in Taylor et al. (2009). In this report, we changed the status of the population from increasing to stable to reflect the increase in the harvest rate and because populations cannot continue to increase without stabilization.