The United States has listed the polar bear as a threatened species because Arctic sea ice is melting due to global warming.

The government made the announcement after satellite imagery found ice coverage had fallen to its lowest level yet recorded.

Canada is home to two-thirds of the total polar-bear population, but it has not listed the species as threatened despite a Canadian panel last month urging action.

So, acting on advice from scientists, the Bush administration has decided to list the polar bear due to its vanishing habitat.

The US interior secretary, Dirk Kempthorne, says the US will seek help from other countries to protect the polar bear.

But he has warned the listing will not be a defacto way of forcing limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

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