A previously unknown population of polar bears was discovered to be thriving in an environment that was thought to be impossible

The finding offers a glimmer of hope for the conservation of these renowned white bears.

 

A hitherto unknown population of polar bears has been uncovered in Greenland. This population lives in a habitat that, for the majority of the year, is devoid of the floating platforms of sea ice that the bears require to hunt effectively. The peculiar group, which researchers had previously believed was a part of another local society, has been hiding in plain sight for a considerable time and likely has done so for hundreds of years.

 

The bears make their homes on the steep slopes surrounding the fjords, which are long and narrow coastal inlets formed when glaciers meet the ocean. They hunt on a patchwork of glacial ice that breaks up in these inlets. According to the findings of a recent study, a recent discovery implies that at least some polar bears may be able to adapt to the melting of sea ice caused by the effects of climate change.

 

Nevertheless, that is not a foolproof solution for the species as a whole.

 

In an email to Live Science, lead researcher Kristin Laidre, a wildlife scientist at the Polar Science Center at the University of Washington, said, "Glacier ice may help small numbers of polar bears survive for longer periods under climate warming, but it is not available for the vast majority of polar bears." This is because this type of glacier ice can only be found close to a minimal percentage of the world's other polar bear populations.

 

Until recently, researchers had determined that there were 19 distinct subpopulations of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) found north of the Arctic Circle. One of these communities inhabits a region that stretches along the eastern coast of Greenland for a total of 1,988 miles (3,200 kilometres). However, when researchers took a more in-depth look at this group to track their numbers, they discovered that the bears comprised two distinct populations.

 

Researchers analyzed 36 years' worth of tracking data from bears tagged with GPS collars and found that bears from the southeast of Greenland did not pass above a latitude of 64 degrees north, and bears from the northeast of Greenland did not pass the same line in the other direction. The researchers discovered this after analyzing tracking data from bears tagged with GPS collars. Genetic analysis of samples taken from individual bears demonstrated that southeastern bears have a unique genetic profile compared to their neighbours in the northeast.

 

"We present the first evidence for a genetically distinct and functionally isolated group of polar bears in southeast Greenland," the researchers wrote in their new study, which was published on June 16 in the journal Science. "We present the first evidence for a genetically distinct and functionally isolated group of polar bears in southeast Greenland," the researchers said.

 

The researchers stated that it was difficult to determine an exact number of individuals in the newly discovered group in the southeast. Still, they estimated that there were approximately 300 of them. The newly discovered group is the most genetically varied of the 20 populations in the Arctic. According to the researchers, genetic comparisons imply that they have been separated from the population in the northeast for approximately 200 years.

 

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List (opens in a new tab), polar bears are classified as a species that faces a high risk of extinction, and there are only approximately 36,000 individuals still living in the wild. However, several studies have indicated that the species may go extinct by the end of this century due to the consequences of climate change.

 

Polar bears are classified as marine animals even though they are the largest terrestrial predators on the planet. This is because their diet is predominately aquatic and consists of seals as the primary food source. However, to hunt for food, snow-white bears rely on sea ice as a platform to stalk their prey from above. This allows them to get a better overall view of their target. Unfortunately, the increasing temperatures induced by climate change are causing a reduction in the amount of sea ice available, leading to a reduction in their natural habitat.

 

The total area covered by sea ice fluctuates throughout the year in the Arctic. Autumn is when the temporary ice sheets on the ocean's surface begin to form, and spring is when they begin to melt away. Polar bears can go without eating for an average of 100 to 180 days, depending on the season, due to the melting of the sea ice in the summer. Polar bears are now on the verge of starvation due to climate change, which has caused temperatures in the Arctic to rise, causing earlier sea ice melting and later sea ice freezing.

 

The fjords that are home to the southeastern polar bears are located at the southern tip of the Arctic Circle; as a result, the region is free of sea ice for more than 250 days every year. This is one of the reasons why polar bears choose to make their home there. The researchers believe that because these sea ice conditions are similar to those that are expected for the rest of the Arctic by the end of the 21st century, based on prior studies, polar bears will no longer be able to survive in the fjords. On the other hand, bears in the southeast appear to be coping quite well with the absence of sea ice.

 

The investigators are under the impression that the bears are using glacial mélange, which refers to the pieces of ice that fall off the fjords' glaciers and into the sea. It seems likely that the bears hunt on these freshwater ice patches in the same way as they hunt on sea ice. This enables the bears to continue consuming food even during extended periods when sea ice is not in the vicinity. The researchers noted in their paper that "this shows that marine-terminating glaciers may act as previously undiscovered climate refugia."

 

It is believed that most hunters cannot access this region because it is too difficult to get there, which provides an additional layer of protection for the bears who dwell there. The population that resides in the southeast does not reside anywhere near any human communities. However, polar bears may have difficulty navigating the steep slopes of the fjords, restricting the amount of territory they can cover. Researchers believe that potential partners have difficulty reaching one another, which may be the cause of the new population's low birth rate compared to other communities.

 

In the recently published study, the researchers made use of genetic data to locate two individuals who have the potential to be immigrants from the community in the northeast. It would appear that these immigrant bears have successfully adapted to hunting on glacial mélange. This raises the possibility that other populations may be able to do the same when sea ice conditions degrade in other regions. The researchers found many more areas in northern Greenland and Svalbard comparable to the glacial conditions that may host polar bears. On the other hand, it's feasible that the vast majority of bears won't be able to relocate to these areas.

 

Even if the study offers a ray of hope for some polar bears, the researchers are adamant that this does not make the threat posed by climate change to Arctic predators any less severe. According to Laidre, "the disappearance of Arctic sea ice is still the major hazard facing all polar bears." "The findings of this study do not contradict that." According to her, the loss of sea ice over the Arctic will continue, and the vast majority of polar bears will drop as a source of survival.

Article source : https://www.livescience.com/secret-polar-bear-population

Image source  : https://pixabay.com/id/photos/dingin-salju-pedalaman-ski-lereng-2068298/

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