Is the polar bear "endangered"?

Sara Palin lives there, so she should know. But environmentalist groups are lobbying to put the big whites on the "Endangered Species" list based on the flimsy excuse that their "habitat" is disappearing. Not so fast, the Alaskan governor declares.

It seems that there are more polar bears now than there were forty years ago. The laws meant to protect them are working. By using "global warming" arguments, which project short term trends to a logical conclusion, environmentalists claim that as goes the ice, so goes the bear. That is discounting the vast plain of permafrost which supports much more life than do icebergs! The bears may even have a BETTER time at finding land-based prey.

Besides, how biologically diverse is a polar bear from its cousins? Perhaps it would just adapt to changing conditions. Do you think a study has been done from THAT angle? Probably not, given the present evolutionary bias in the sciences. As a matter of fact, studies are not needed. History and science are replete with examples of "hybrids" among bears. Both the grizzly and the brown bear have been known to interbreed with the polar bear -- with fertile offspring! Therefore, it can be reasonably assumed that the "species" is not in danger at all! As you get away from the frozen north, bears of other varieties are numerous. It would be sad, I suppose, if a particular "breed" of bear were to disappear. But "endangered" is not a term that need be used.