Because of ongoing and potential loss of their sea ice habitat resulting from climate change, polar bears were listed as a threatened species in the US under the Endangered Species Act in May 2008. While hunting has long been an issue, global warming has done a number on polar bears' habitats recently. In fact, the World Wide Fund for Nature (or WWF) estimates that there are only 22,000 to 31,000 polar bears left in the world.Polar bear populations fluctuate in response to natural factors such as climate and prey availability. Populations can also be impacted by humans through factors such as hunting, oil spills, shipping, and other activities. The problem with polar bears is that, right now, their habitat isn't stable, so the short answer is that restricting hunting in some areas certainly could save more bears for the time that we stop the decline of the sea ice, but by itself it will not save the polar bears.