Polar Bears

Polar bears in Russia’s Arctic are increasingly turning to cannibalism as growing human activity and development in the region shrinks their hunting grounds, scientists at the Russian Academy of Sciences said Wednesday.

In a new study published in Ecological Applications, researchers looked into all the ways polar bears are struggling to grow and reproduce because of a massive decline in the sea ice habitat they need to survive.

A conservation expert has warned that polar bears will become extinct if trophy hunting is allowed to continue. Since 1960, more than 50,000 polar bears have been killed – to put that into context, that is twice the number of polar bears left in the world. Read more

Newborn polar bears are able to survive the bone-chilling Arctic winter — where temperatures can fall to negative 30 degrees Celsius or lower — by seeking warmth in their mothers’ dens. However, new research claims that if current trends continue, cubs along Alaska’s northern coast might perish outside instead. Read …

Expert Steven Amstrup says ‘the longer the sea ice is gone from the productive zone the tougher it is on the bears’. 

Experts say this shocking animal tourism craze for the rich is on the rise with more than 5,000 of the magnificent ­creatures slayed for sport in ­Canada’s area of the Arctic Circle in recent years.

More polar bears have gone on land to search for food as the climate crisis has been shrinking the sea ice they depend upon. 

Environmental activists have blamed climate change for appearance of polar bear in the Kamchatka Peninsula. 

Human activities, including coastal development, could limit access to carcasses, researchers say. 

Last month’s visit by roaming polar bears that put a Russian village on lockdown may be just the beginning. For as Moscow steps up its activity in the warming Arctic, conflict with the rare species is likely to increase.

A polar bear snapped with a noose around its neck from a discarded fishing net serves as a stark reminder of how plastic waste is strangling the world’s wildlife – both metaphorically and literally.  

The echo of the refugee crisis is no accident. More and more species, along with people, are being driven from their homes by climate disruption, raising the risk of conflict.