Polar bear numbers are so high they threaten native Inuit populations, a controversial Canadian government report has found.

The animals, which have become one of the enduring symbols of the environmental cause, are growing in such numbers that they cannot currently safely co-exist with humans in northern Canada, the report suggested.

But the findings have been bitterly contested by environmental scientists who say that climate change has simply pushed the bears closer to humans as they search for food.

They argue that populations are not actually increasing.

Scroll down for video

Polar bears have become one of the enduring symbols of the environmental cause (pictured, on Somerset Island in Canada). However, a new report says bears are growing in such numbers that they cannot currently safely co-exist with humans in northern Canada

Wildlife experts often use images of emaciated polar bears to show how habitats are coming under threat due to ice shrinking and sea levels rising.

For example just a few months ago footage emerged of a polar bear prowling around on thin ice in the Nunavut territory in the northernmost region in Canada.

Wildlife experts said that the photos showed how the polar bears' habitat is coming under threat due to human-induced global warming.

However, a new report, drafted by the Nunavut government completely contracts these widely-held claims about declining populations.

The draft report, which is set to be published by the end of this year, claims that polar bear populations are much higher than scientists estimated - and are actually increasing.

'Inuit believe there are now so many bears that public safety has become a major concern,' the proposed plan, which has been seen by the Canadian website Windsor Star, claims.

'Public safety concerns, combined with the effects of polar bears on other species, suggest that in many Nunavut communities, the polar bear may have exceeded the co-existence threshold.'

Wildlife experts often use images of polar bears to show how habitats are coming under threat due to ice shrinking and sea levels rising. Pictured is their estimated global population

The controversial report claims nine polar bear sub-populations are increasing in size. This goes in contrast to conservationists' estimates. The graphic above from WWF shows only two small sub-populations appear to be growing (green), several others are considered to be stable (blue) and one is known to be declining (red). There are still many uncertainties, though, as indicated by the white circles

The controversial findings, which are being discussed in Iqaluit this week, say that 'no declines have currently been attributed to climate change.

'(Inuit knowledge) acknowledges that polar bears are exposed to the effects of climate change, but suggests that they are adaptable', the report claims.

According to scientists just one polar bear population is growing but the report claims there are nine.

The findings - which have not yet been released online - consist of submissions from Inuit groups across Canada's northern territories.

Experts have criticised the findings as being just 'plain wrong'.

Andrew Derocher, a University of Alberta polar bear expert, agrees that dangerous bear-human encounters are becoming more frequent.

Just earlier this year footage showed a polar bear prowling around on thin ice. Wildlife experts said that the photos, taken in the Nunavut territory, the northernmost in Canada, show how the polar bears' habitat is coming under threat with ice shrinking and sea levels rising

However, he says that this is because climate change is reducing the size of the sea ice.

'They will move into communities seeking food', he said.

Around 16,000 polar bears are estimated to live in the arctic regions of Canada, which is 65 per cent of the total global population.

It is estimated that three per cent - or 600 - are killed annually, mostly by Inuit hunters.

Although hunting quotas are not set to increase immediately it appears that could be a reality at some point.

The report says that management objectives 'could include managing polar bears for a decrease.'

Images and footage of starving polar bears often result in public outcry about human impacts on the natural world. At the end of last year harrowing footage emerged of an emancipated polar bear stumbling through a terrain devoid of snow and ice

Inuits - who claim population numbers are much higher - say their own observations are often ignored.

'We know what we are doing, and western science and modelling has become too dominant,' wrote the Kitikmeot regional wildlife board as part of the draft report.

At the end of last year another harrowing video emerged of an emancipated polar bear stumbling through a terrain devoid of snow and ice.

The footage was taken on Somerset Island, near Baffin Island which is part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

There was global outcry as a result of the footage with many environmental campaigners saying it had been deprived of its hunting grounds by fishermen.

The report, which has been bitterly contested by environmental scientists, found that the growing bear population is posing a threat to the native population (stock image)

WHY DO POLAR BEARS NEED ICE TO SURVIVE? Loss of ice due to climate change has a direct impact on the ability of polar bears to feed and survive. The bears need platforms of ice to reach their prey of ringed and bearded seals. Some sea ice lies over more productive hunting areas than others. Like other predators at the top of the food chain, polar bears have a low reproductive rate. One or two cubs are born in midwinter and stay with their mother for two years. Consequently, females breed only every three years. The bears don’t reproduce until they are five or six years old. From late fall until spring, mothers with new cubs den in snowdrifts on land or on pack ice. They emerge from their dens, with the new cubs, in the spring to hunt seals from floating sea ice. Simply put, if there isn’t enough sea ice, seals can’t haul out on the ice, and polar bears can’t continue to hunt. End of summer measurements of sea ice in the Arctic in September revealed that the region has hit the eighth lowest extent in modern record keeping. Satellite data showed the Arctic reached its yearly lowest extent on September 13, at 1.79 million square miles (4.64 million square kilometres). While the Arctic hits its summertime minimum around this time every year, the experts say the extent has been decreasing rapidly as a result of climate change, seeing dramatic declines since the late 1970s. Advertisement

However, these animals do also pose a risk to native populations.

The report comes just months after Canadian man was killed by a polar bear while trying to protect his children.

Aaron Gibbons, 31, was visiting Sentry Island with his family when he spotted the bear near Hudson Bay charging towards one of his kids.

Frantically he sent them running back to their boat and put himself in between them and the animal.

The bear mauled Gibbons Tuesday evening around 7:30 and it was shot dead afterwards by another individual who ran onto the scene to help.