The polar bear continues to roam on an increasingly thin ice floe. It is undeniably threatened, but less so than other inhabitants of the Arctic, such as little auks, ivory gulls, lemmings, walruses, and other narwhals. Its image has been overused to raise awareness about the consequences of climate change, but the polar bear deserves better than that. Its elegance, unique adaptations, and curiosity should not remain mere marketing arguments for zoos and uninformed policies. If it is to remain a symbol, like its cousin the brown bear, it should symbolize our unbreakable connection with the wild. If the polar bear disappears, it may not significantly alter the Arctic ecosystem, but we, as human beings, will have lost a millennia-old reference and an essential anchor.
