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Released from the Wilderness Society posted by NewsBlaze.comNovember
17, 2009
Oil spills in the arctic contaminate the water as well as harm
wildlife. Each year, an average of 450 oil and other toxic spills
occur on Alaska's North Slope as a result of oil and gas activity.
These harmful spills disrupt the natural habitat of many animals,
including the polar bear. Oil on a polar bears fur, even a small
amount can result in death of the polar bear. Oil spills disrupt the
dens of mother polar bears, and can cause the pups to die. Oil
development activities have disturbed polar bears from maternity dens.
With sea ice loss, more polar bears are expected to den onshore, thus
increasing the likelihood of human-bear interactions and impacts similar
to those observed with grizzly bears.
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Release from the Canadian Press July 6, 2009
The Polar Bear Specialist Group, which tracks groups of polar bears has
made a discovery. The Polar Bear Specialist Group states that of the
19 polar bear populations, eight of them are now in decline. Which
is up three more groups since 2005. Currently there are only 3
groups that are considered stable, where as in 2005, 5 groups were
considered to be stable. The Polar Bear Specialist Group stated that
only one polar bear population is increasing, and 7 groups are
undetermined, as there is not enough information for scientists to draw conclusions
from.
The cause of these population decreases is not something new. It
is something that has been happening for the last few years. The disappearance
of sea ice. Without the sea ice, the polar bears have no platform to
hunt for seals. Some polar bears have been weighed, and the
results are devastating. Not only are the females now measuring and
weighing less, there is evidence that the life expectancy of polar bears
is decreasing. Older polar bears and young polar bears have an even
slimmer chance of survival due to the disappearance of the ice. |
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Polar bears are once again in the news. A study done in December 2008
states that the vulnerable polar bear population could survive the effects
of climate change and the population could continue to grow if the the
great polar bears switch a their greatest food source. Currently
polar bears rely mainly on seals for food, however, if the polar bears
switch to eggs, they may survive.
There are many snow geese nests along the Hudson Bay shoreline.
If the polar bears switch to eggs, then during the warmer temperatures,
when it is hard for polar bears to hunt for food on the ice, they
can search along the coastal shore lines, where the birds nest.
As the date for spring break up advances, polar bears are coming to
shore a lot sooner, therefore, they have not had the same amount of time
to hunt for ringed seal. Having less food in them, they have lower
energy, and this makes it difficult for survival. Typically it is
the younger bears that are coming to shore sooner. They are beginning
to arrive when the nesting snow geese still occupy the shores.
This allows the still hungry and low energy polar bears to regain some
energy.
The geese eggs are energy rich, but the polar bears need to be at the
shore when the birds are there. Eating the eggs will also depend on
each polar bear and its foraging behaviours. Polar bears will still
have to have some other food source, as they will not be able to survive
on eggs alone. Bird eggs are not normally a main part of a polar
bears diet, however, they may become an important part.
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