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All species / Ursus maritimus

Ursus maritimus

Polar Bear · Phipps, 1774

Ursus maritimus, Polar Bear
(c) Peter K, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Peter K · via inaturalist, stored and served from this site
Red List, global
VU
Vulnerable, 2015
First CITES listing
II
Appendix II, 1975
CITES trade records
16,464
1975–2023 · exporter-reported
Unit dimensions
6
reported separately, never summed
NAMMCO catch entries
none
NAMMCO reports a subset of marine mammals
Seizure records
18
reported taxon matches

One of 43: each square a species, coloured by its latest global Red List category, this one ringed. Polar Bear is among the other mammals.

In summary derived

Ursus maritimus, Polar Bear, is placed in family Ursidae, order Carnivora, class Mammalia. It was first listed in Appendix II in 1975. The earliest CITES listing row the corpus holds for it is Appendix II, dated 1992, a later entry that lists it as part of Ursidae spp. The corpus records 1 dated listing row in total.

Its latest global Red List assessment is Vulnerable, published 2015. It carries 3 earlier global assessments on the current scale and 7 on scales that were superseded before the current categories and cannot be compared with them.

The corpus holds 16,464 exporter-reported CITES trade records for it, from 1975 to 2023, reported across 6 unit dimensions. The most frequently recorded term is skins: 7,213 records across 2 unit dimensions, of which 7,210 are measured in specimens. The corpus holds no NAMMCO catch records for it. 18 seizure records are attributed to it, being those whose reported taxon matches the species.

Composed from 18 corpus fields, by template, with no model
  • species.class
  • species.family
  • species.order_name
  • species_catch.catch_total
  • species_iucn.is_global
  • species_iucn.status
  • species_iucn.year_published
  • species_listing.appendix
  • species_listing.listing_date
  • species_listing_event.appendix
  • species_listing_event.event_date
  • species_seizure.*
  • species_trade.dimension
  • species_trade.first_year
  • species_trade.last_year
  • species_trade.record_count
  • species_trade.reporter_type
  • species_trade.term

Each sentence is generated from the columns above and nothing else. The same corpus produces the same text every time. Where a field is absent the sentence is omitted rather than hedged.

Overview curated

Taxonomy entered by a named curator and versioned in the repository.

Class
Mammalia
Order
Carnivora
Family
Ursidae
First CITES listing
1975
Global Red List status
VUVulnerable, assessed 2015
Regional status (Europe)
VURegional, 2025. Not the species status.
Content withheld pending expert review

8 narrative sections for this species were machine-drafted and are not shown. No subject expert has reviewed and signed them.

Trade derived

CITES Trade Database v2025.1, extracted 13 June 2025.

There is no single trade total

Quantities are reported per unit dimension, per traded term, and per reporting side. These are not additive: kilograms and individual animals have no common unit, a live animal is not a carving, and an importer report and an exporter report are two accounts of one shipment rather than two shipments.

Figures below are exporter-reported.

count in specimens
15,904
packaging in containers
398
mass in kg
98
volume in L
59
length in m
4
area in m²
1

Records per dimension. Not additive across units.

Trade over time

listed 19751975: 2 records1976: 14 records1977: 32 records1978: 40 records1979: 58 records1980: 65 records1981: 48 records1982: 70 records1983: 96 records1984: 73 records1985: 71 records1986: 152 records1987: 243 records1988: 284 records1989: 289 records1990: 279 records1991: 350 records1992: 287 records1993: 295 records1994: 263 records1995: 266 records1996: 278 records1997: 485 records1998: 388 records1999: 506 records2000: 426 records2001: 544 records2002: 780 records2003: 825 records2004: 1,061 records2005: 1,173 records2006: 968 records2007: 586 records2008: 486 records2009: 410 records2010: 590 records2011: 329 records2012: 501 records2013: 521 records2014: 292 records2015: 462 records2016: 299 records2017: 266 records2018: 264 records2019: 193 records2020: 134 records2021: 154 records2022: 139 records2023: 127 records19801990200020102020
Peak 1,173 records in 2005. Trade records per year, exporter-reported, every term and unit counted as records, not quantities.
listed 19751976: 100 specimens1977: 210 specimens1978: 322 specimens1979: 205 specimens1980: 395 specimens1981: 347 specimens1982: 498 specimens1983: 334 specimens1984: 303 specimens1985: 237 specimens1986: 529 specimens1987: 448 specimens1988: 485 specimens1989: 489 specimens1990: 622 specimens1991: 365 specimens1992: 277 specimens1993: 383 specimens1994: 269 specimens1995: 296 specimens1996: 361 specimens1997: 505 specimens1998: 373 specimens1999: 421 specimens2000: 244 specimens2001: 237 specimens2002: 284 specimens2003: 329 specimens2004: 378 specimens2005: 378 specimens2006: 364 specimens2007: 319 specimens2008: 319 specimens2009: 329 specimens2010: 500 specimens2011: 230 specimens2012: 313 specimens2013: 290 specimens2014: 121 specimens2015: 281 specimens2016: 99 specimens2017: 40 specimens2018: 67 specimens2019: 43 specimens2020: 35 specimens2021: 33 specimens2022: 55 specimens2023: 39 specimens19801990200020102020
Peak 622 specimens in 1990. Quantity of skins, the term with most records (7,210), in specimens, exporter-reported. Other terms are in the tables below, each in its own unit.

count measured in specimens

15,904 of 16,464 records carry a quantity in specimens. CITES leaves the unit blank to mean a count of the term.

Top 8 of 34. Bars count trade records per term, not specimens, all sources combined; the table splits them by source and gives the quantity in specimens.
TermQuantityRecordsYearsSource
skins9,011 specimens6,1801985–2023W
skulls2,822 specimens2,3941985–2023W
claws3,856 specimens1,6621986–2023W
bodies1,204 specimens1,1731991–2023W
skins5,011 specimens9671976–2010not recorded
bones1,038 specimens6241990–2023W
carvings859 specimens5801986–2018W
specimens44,420 specimens3651989–2023W
rug352 specimens3492016–2023W
teeth6,340 specimens2421987–2021W
skin pieces8,671 specimens2061985–2020W
live301 specimens2031975–2023C

Showing the 12 term and source combinations with the most records, of 87.

packaging measured in containers

398 of 16,464 records carry a quantity in containers.

Bars count trade records per term, not containers, all sources combined; the table splits them by source and gives the quantity in containers.
TermQuantityRecordsYearsSource
carvings479 containers3811989–2005W
claws5 containers52004–2005W
bones5 containers52005W
specimens319 containers41994–2002W
skin scraps1 container11986not recorded
specimens3 containers11983not recorded
garments1 container12005W
4 smaller units: kg (98 records), L (59 records), m (4 records), m² (1 record)

mass measured in kg

98 of 16,464 records carry a quantity in kg.

Top 8 of 11. Bars count trade records per term, not kg, all sources combined; the table splits them by source and gives the quantity in kg.
TermQuantityRecordsYearsSource
specimens948.09 kg571994–2023W
skin scraps11.9 kg41983–1986not recorded
hair0.21 kg42016–2022W
meat77.86 kg41991–2005W
skin pieces62 kg41993–1999W
skin pieces50 kg31987–1990not recorded
specimens0.00300 kg32020O
skins32 kg32009–2022W
bones35 kg21988–1989not recorded
specimens19.5 kg22016F
unspecified2 kg21994W
carvings0.07 kg22010W

Showing the 12 term and source combinations with the most records, of 19.

volume measured in L

59 of 16,464 records carry a quantity in L.

TermQuantityRecordsYearsSource
specimens3.61 L551992–2020W
specimens0.33 L31996–2017C
specimens0.06 L11996F

length measured in m

4 of 16,464 records carry a quantity in m.

TermQuantityRecordsYearsSource
specimens0.04 m42015W

area measured in m²

1 of 16,464 records carry a quantity in m². Area is the surface of the item traded as the Party reported it, for example a skin sample in square centimetres; every area unit is converted to m².

TermQuantityRecordsYearsSource
skin pieces1 m²12010W

CITES listings curated

CoP decisions, cross-checked against the appendix reported on trade records.

First listed on 1975-07-01, in Appendix II, from the CITES listing history. The table below holds the species' current listing entries, which begin later; earlier coverage is often under a higher taxon.

DateAppendixAnnotationStatus
1992-06-11II[FAMILY listing Ursidae spp.] Included in Ursidae spp.earliest current entry

Convention on Migratory Species

Listed under CMS: Appendix II.

IUCN Red List derived

Assessment history. Scope is always stated: a regional assessment is not the species status.

This history crosses a criteria revision

Categories from before 2001 come from earlier Red List systems. Three kinds are kept apart.

LR/lc and LR/nt are the modern LC and NT under their old names, so they are plotted as those categories and the line runs through them: nothing changed but the wording.

LR/cd was discontinued with no successor. This project reads it as Near Threatened, following a published crosswalk between the old and new Red List systems, and the chart marks such a point hollow and names both codes, because placing a category is not the same as finding it published.

The pre-1994 codes (E, V, K, T and the rest) are not on the risk order at all, so they sit below the axis and the line breaks across them. A category change across a criteria revision is not a change in extinction risk, and none of these is scored as a movement: the ledger refuses every one of them at gate 3.

LCNTVUENCR196519701980199020002010202020251996: LR/cd, Lower Risk, conservation dependent (1994 system, discontinued 2001) (global). Placed at Near Threatened by the crosswalk this project adopted (Lin et al. 2025, doi:10.1111/cobi.70103); the category IUCN published is LR/cd.2006: Vulnerable (global)2007: Vulnerable (global)2008: Vulnerable (global)2015: Vulnerable (global)?1965: Not applicable, which records that no assessment was made — carries no position on the risk order1982: Vulnerable (pre-1994 criteria), from a superseded Red List system — carries no position on the risk order1986: Vulnerable (pre-1994 criteria), from a superseded Red List system — carries no position on the risk order1988: Vulnerable (pre-1994 criteria), from a superseded Red List system — carries no position on the risk order1990: Vulnerable (pre-1994 criteria), from a superseded Red List system — carries no position on the risk order1994: Vulnerable (pre-1994 criteria), from a superseded Red List system — carries no position on the risk order2025: Vulnerable, assessed at Europe scope, not the global statusEuropeLCNTVUENCR1965198019902000201020251996: LR/cd, Lower Risk, conservation dependent (1994 system, discontinued 2001) (global). Placed at Near Threatened by the crosswalk this project adopted (Lin et al. 2025, doi:10.1111/cobi.70103); the category IUCN published is LR/cd.2006: Vulnerable (global)2007: Vulnerable (global)2008: Vulnerable (global)2015: Vulnerable (global)?1965: Not applicable, which records that no assessment was made — carries no position on the risk order1982: Vulnerable (pre-1994 criteria), from a superseded Red List system — carries no position on the risk order1986: Vulnerable (pre-1994 criteria), from a superseded Red List system — carries no position on the risk order1988: Vulnerable (pre-1994 criteria), from a superseded Red List system — carries no position on the risk order1990: Vulnerable (pre-1994 criteria), from a superseded Red List system — carries no position on the risk order1994: Vulnerable (pre-1994 criteria), from a superseded Red List system — carries no position on the risk order2025: Vulnerable, assessed at Europe scope, not the global statusEurope
  • published global assessment
  • placed on the scale by a crosswalk
  • not on this scale (below the axis)
  • regional assessment, never joined
Vertical position is the IUCN risk order, not a measured quantity: the gaps between categories are equal on the page and not in nature. Anything that is not one of the nine modern categories carries no position on that order — Data Deficient, a superseded category, or a record that no assessment was made — so it sits below the axis and the line breaks across it rather than joining through. Each point names which it is. One point is hollow: the category was discontinued with no successor and is placed on this scale by the crosswalk this project adopted (Lin et al. 2025, doi:10.1111/cobi.70103), not published on it. The code IUCN published is in the table below and in the point's own label. Regional assessments are shown but never joined to global ones; they describe a different population.

Category movement since listing: not scored. Gate 3: the baseline category V comes from a pre-2001 Red List system and is not on the modern ordinal scale. How this is defined and why some species are not scored

YearCategoryMeaningScopeStatus
2025VUVulnerableEuropecurrent for this scope
2015VUVulnerableGlobalcurrent for this scope
2008VUVulnerableGlobal
2007VUVulnerableGlobal
2006VUVulnerableGlobal
1996LR/cdLower Risk, conservation dependent (1994 system, discontinued 2001)Global
1994VVulnerable (pre-1994 criteria)Global
1990VVulnerable (pre-1994 criteria)Global
1988VVulnerable (pre-1994 criteria)Global
1986VVulnerable (pre-1994 criteria)Global
1982VVulnerable (pre-1994 criteria)Global
1965N/ANot applicableGlobal

Reported catch derived

NAMMCO catch exports dated 11 June 2025. A reported zero is stored as zero, distinct from an unknown.

No NAMMCO catch records for this species. NAMMCO reports on a subset of marine mammals, so an absence here is expected for most species and does not mean no catch occurred.

Illegal trade seizures derived

Seizure records whose reported taxon resolves to this species.

What the seizure source records

18 seizure records name this species. Matching is on the taxon the source reported, case aside, and each record below shows the reported name, so a match that is not literal can be seen for what it is. Across the whole compilation, 225 of 919 rows match one of the 43 species and the rest name other taxa.

Quantities are unitless. The source gives no date or place, so the table shows the product and the reported taxon.

Top 8 of 12. Records per product, not a quantity.
ProductReported as
boneUrsus maritimus
clawUrsus maritimus
clawursus maritimus
derivativeUrsus maritimus
garmentUrsus maritimus
hairursus maritimus
hairUrsus maritimus
medicineursus maritimus
skinursus maritimus
skinUrsus maritimus
skinUrsus maritimus
skin pieceUrsus maritimus
skin pieceursus maritimus
skullUrsus maritimus
specimenUrsus maritimus
toothUrsus maritimus
toothursus maritimus
trophyursus maritimus

References withheld

Machine-proposed bindings. Shown only where an expert has signed the profile and the binding is live.

No references are recorded for this species: none is shown, and none was machine-proposed for review.

Timeline curated

Curated events. Those with no corroborating table in this database are marked.

DateEventTypeCorroboration
2022-12-08IUCN Red List Assessmentiucn_assessmentcurated no 2022 assessment in the IUCN record
2018-09-13EU Decision: Positiveeu_decisioncurated
2018-06-15CITES Trade: skinscites_tradechecked against cites_trade_records
2016-11-07EU Decision: SRG Referraleu_decisioncurated
2015IUCN Red List Assessment (2015)iucn_assessmentchecked against iucn_assessments
2008IUCN Red List Assessment (2008)iucn_assessmentchecked against iucn_assessments
2007IUCN Red List Assessment (2007)iucn_assessmentchecked against iucn_assessments
2006IUCN Red List Assessment (2006)iucn_assessmentchecked against iucn_assessments
1996IUCN Red List Assessment (1996)iucn_assessmentchecked against iucn_assessments
1994IUCN Red List Assessment (1994)iucn_assessmentchecked against iucn_assessments
1992-06-11Listed in CITES Appendix IIcites_listingchecked against cites_listings
1990IUCN Red List Assessment (1990)iucn_assessmentchecked against iucn_assessments
1988IUCN Red List Assessment (1988)iucn_assessmentchecked against iucn_assessments
1986IUCN Red List Assessment (1986)iucn_assessmentchecked against iucn_assessments
1982IUCN Red List Assessment (1982)iucn_assessmentchecked against iucn_assessments
1965IUCN Red List Assessment (1965)iucn_assessmentchecked against iucn_assessments

Events marked curated are not matched by a row in a corroborating table, either because none applies or because the table holds no such row, and rest on the curator alone. They are shown, and marked, rather than presented as equivalent to a table-checked fact.