Photo: Polar Bear Decision Delay Meant to Protect Oil Leases?

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The U.S. government has requested ten more weeks to make a decision on whether to list polar bears as an endangered species. Such a designation would protect the bears and their habitat within the U.S.

Conservation groups are protesting the move, saying that the delay is a tactic to prevent legal challenges to offshore oil leases currently being negotiated for bear habitat in Alaska.

Photograph by Flip Nicklin

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