MOSCOW, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Russia and the United States were to initiate a joint commission on polar bear hunt in the second half of June, local media reported on Sunday.
The joint commission was tasked to regulate the quota on white bear hunt in the Arctic territories of Alaska.
"In a week we will hold the session to set the quota for hunt for this animal," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Vladimir Krever, coordinator for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) of Russia, as saying.
Moscow and Washington have signed an agreement, allowing the indigenous citizens of Alaska and Chukotka to hunt for polar bears, since it represents a kind of traditional industry.
So far the position of Russia on the issue remained unclear, said the coordinator.
The commission was established to monitor the implementation of the bilateral agreement on the protection and usage of the Chukotka-Alaska white bear population, which came into force in 2007.
Since 1956 the Russian part of Alaska has totally prohibited hunting on white bears, while in the U.S. part indigenous residents of the Bering Sea coast and the Chukchee Sea coast could hunt for them.
Scientists claimed there were no more than 2,500 polar bears left in Russia.
The commission was expected to tackle the problem of illegal hunting as well.
