This is a key question to the whole project. Besides the fact that they
are cute and cuddly - polar bears are important for many reasons. Polar
bears are what are known as an umbrella species; many organisms are
connected to polar bears via a food web. For example, the Arctic Fox
depends on the polar bear for food - they eat the left over seal carcass
after the polar bear is done. Polar bears feed on seals, without the
predator then the seal population might increase also affecting the fish
that seals feed on - and so on.
Another reason to care about the polar bears is the overall notion of
biodiversity. Biodiversity refers to the number of different species.
For example there are millions of different species of beetles. While it
may not seem important to have so many types, each is a specialist in
terms of food, habitat, behavior, etc. Each plays a role in ecosystems.
A great analogy for this is an engine. If you pull one part out of an
engine, but don't know what it is - you wouldn't just throw it away.
You'd save it because maybe later you would understand it's importance and
use.
Another reason there is so much focus on polar bears is because they get
attention of the public. They serve as a sort of "ambassador" species for
what's happening in the Arctic right now. They serve as a gauge to
measure affects of climate change.
I know there are lots of opinions on this, but hopefully this is just a
start to get you thinking.
Thanks,
Ms Galvan