Wildlife / Animals nominee

ANCIENT GREEK "ARCTOS" MEANS BOTH THE STAR AND THE POLAR BEAR AND THE ARCTIC GETS ITS NAME FROM THIS ANIMAL, ONE OF THE MIGHTIEST PREDATORS ON EARTH.
APPROXIMATELY 25,000 POLAR BEARS REMAIN IN THE WILD, LIVING IN FIVE RANGE COUNTRIES: CANADA, GREENLAND, NORWAY, RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES; 2/3 OF POLAR BEARS POPULATION STAYING IN CANADA WHERE THE POPULATION REMAINS STABLE. MASSIVE ANIMALS BOTH MARINE AND TERRESTRIAL, THEY CAN WEIGH UP TO 1700 LB AND REACHING NEARLY 10’ FOR MALES (7’ AND 850 LB FOR FEMALES). DEITY FOR THE INUIT PEOPLE AS WELL FOR SCANDINAVIANS AND GERMANS IN THE PAST, NOWADAYS SYMBOL ATTACHED TO CHILDHOOD WITH TEDDY, POLAR BEAR BECAME THE EMBLEM OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AS GLOBAL WARMING. CLIMATE CHANGE IS CAUSING THE ARCTIC’S ICE TO MELT, PUTTING THE SURVIVAL OF SEA-ICE DEPENDENT SPECIES, SUCH AS POLAR BEARS , IN A CRITICAL POSITION . ACCORDING TO THE EXPERTS, TWO-THIRDS OF THE WORLD’S POLAR BEAR POPULATIONS WILL BE LOST BY THE YEAR 2050. "IF THE BEAR CAME TO DISAPPEAR, WE WOULD DISSAPEAR WITH THEM" SAY INUITS.

(* : NANUQ, NANOOK = Polar Bear (In Inuit mythology)

ONE LIFE, ONE PASSION… OUTSTANDING PICTURES
Alain Ernoult is recognized in the whole world for the quality and the power of his pictures in the aeronautical field as
for the coverage of major international events. He is ready to take up the most difficult and extreme photographic challenges,
he has been working for several years with the most important and international magazines (Life, Paris Match, Stern, Time,
National Geographic…). His pictures illustrate a lot of advertising campaign in the world.
In 1989, he creates ERNOULT FEATURES, a news agency which beams 1 000 000 pictures and uses the competences
of more than 400 photographs. The agency is sold in 1995 to Kodak US.
He is the author of around 25 books.
For further information, visit the following site www.ernoult.com