May 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. declared the polar bear a threatened species, giving protected status for the first time to an animal because of global warming.

The carnivore, which hunts on ice sheets that are shrinking because of higher Arctic temperatures, joins more than 1,200 species classified by the U.S. as threatened or endangered with extinction. Today's decision, accounced by Valerie Fellows, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, may create new obstacles for Alaskan oil drilling.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 14, 2008 14:31 EDT