Congress has approved amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) that will sanction the trophy hunting of polar bears for the first time since the act was passed in 1972. The amendments to the MMPA will allow the importation of polar bear trophies into the US from Canada. Among the congressional supporters of the amendments,
which were championed
by the Safari Club International, are Representatives Jack Fields
(R-TX) and Don Young (R-AK), the two ranking Republicans on the
Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. Fields and Young promised
committee chairperson Gerry Studds (D-MA) that they would support
his bill if he included the trophy importation provision, which
the original Senate bill did not include. Wayne Pacelle, national
director of the Fund for Animals' at the time the amendments were
passed, declared, "Congress has established a shocking and
pitiful precedent by sanctioning the trophy hunting of one of
the world's most magnificent and majestic mammals. This legislation
will subject a majority of the world's polar bears to the onslaught
of wealthy American trophy hunters." CONTACT: The Fund for Animals, 850 Sligo Avenue, Suite 300, Silver Spring, MD 20910. (301)585-2591.