Hunting polar bears IS legal... but it's damned hard to do, and feckin' expensive too. Tags for them are literally 50K+, and the limit is one per bag (that is to say, one per hunting trip unless otherwise authorized)--or one happens to be a member of an indigenous tribe of the area.
The thing of it is, is that the guy was legal for polar bear--but depending on the species, sometimes you need another permit for Grizzly (like the Kodiac variation, etc.)--I think, not sure on that count. Either way, he was supposed to be hunting polar and wound up with a grizzly/polar hybrid.
Although I gotta say, ALMOST every thing there is to know about bears is known; the only question that could be answered from this is whether or not it was a fertile hybrid.
Granted, given the number of people to animals ratio--especially where bear populations are concerned--I'd have rather they not killed it... but bullets tend to be one-way tickets ya know?
From what I've read...
The thing of it is, is that the guy was legal for polar bear--but depending on the species, sometimes you need another permit for Grizzly (like the Kodiac variation, etc.)--I think, not sure on that count. Either way, he was supposed to be hunting polar and wound up with a grizzly/polar hybrid.
Lots of red tape on the subject:
http://www.fws.gov/le/Travelers/TipsforTravelersTransportWildlife.htm
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/permits/index.html
http://training.fws.gov/library/Pubs/polar.pdf
Although I gotta say, ALMOST every thing there is to know about bears is known; the only question that could be answered from this is whether or not it was a fertile hybrid.
Granted, given the number of people to animals ratio--especially where bear populations are concerned--I'd have rather they not killed it... but bullets tend to be one-way tickets ya know?