Polar bear trophy hunters posing by bloodied beasts in the Arctic are being advertised by firm offering £36,000 trips to kill endangered animals
- Experts reveal 5,000 of the beasts have been killed for the sport in recent years
- Providers charge up to £36,000 for a 12-day artic hunt, fees added for each kill
- MailOnline found various websites offering the ‘unique opportunity’
Sickening photos of trophy hunters with the bodies of slaughtered polar bears are being used to advertise hunt exhibitions costing thousands, with ‘high success rates and good trophy quality’ promised.
In hunt trips organised for the purpose killing a specific species to add to their mantel, blood thirsty hunters stalk the large prey in their natural habitat, taking an easy shot.
Often trophy hunters will then remove body parts of the defeated animal, sometimes illegally transporting them home to the UK or USA to be preserved and displayed in their homes.
Experts reveal 5,000 of the beasts have been killed for the sport in the Arctic circle in recent years.
A hunter poses with a slaughtered polar bear, splayed out with blood on its snout
Another hunter can be seen posing with his gun and a dead polar bear, slumped on its side
Since 1995 there have been 17 attempts to import polar bear ‘trophies’ into the UK, reports The Mirror.
An increase in the number of specialist hunting firms offering trips to the Arctic circle directly above Canada to customers in the UK, U.S. and China, is thought to have lead to the disturbing trend.
Eduardo Gonçalves, Founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, told The Mirror: ‘It is well known polar bears are in serious danger of becoming extinct because of climate change.
One polar bear hunter stands next to a dead bear with its head placed upon a block of ice
‘If we want to see them survive, we need to stop the senseless slaughter.’
‘The Government should ban imports of all hunting trophies right away.’
MailOnline found various websites offering the ‘unique opportunity’ to hunt the majestic creatures.
A hunter proudly poses next to the fully grown beast it has killed with a shot
One hunt provider, which states they have run polar bear hunts for 30 years, explains that they use ‘quota systems’ put in place by the local Inuit population to fulfil the hunting needs of those willing to pay.
The price posted for an American to kill a polar bear during a 12-day exhibition is listed as £845 ($1,375.50 Canadian) – additional to the price of the hunt listed at £36,000.
The site advertises the hunting as done from ‘heated wall tents and outpost camps’ and offers an ‘Inuit polar bear guide with a dog team for the duration of the hunt’.
Polar bears are classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the World Wildlife Foundation who believe there are between 22,000-31,000 of the species left in the wild.
A man smiles while he stands next to a dead polar bear and places his hand on its body. The hunter is wearing a fur Inuit coat