U.S. to start hearings into polar bear status

Public hearings into a U.S. proposal to list polar bears as "threatened" under its Endangered Species Act begin in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is holdings the hearings after it received a petition from three American environmental groups, saying polar bears are at risk because of climate change.

U.S. government spokesperson Valerie Fellows says there will also be hearings in Barrow, Alaska, and Washington, D.C., next week because there is so much interest.

"I know inD.C. we are expecting a large group just because of our location, and our location to a media market, as well as the headquarters of a lot of conservation organizations and liaisons to international groups," Fellows told CBC News this week.

During the past year, the fish and wildlife service hasreceived more than 250,000 letters and e-mails from the public, she said.

People who cannot attend the hearings have until April 9 to submit their comments in writing, she said.

The U.S. government will make its final decision on the status of polar bears by the end of the year.

There are between 22,000 to 25,000 polar bears in the world, with about 60 per cent of those living in Canada's North.