Polar bear cubs hit as ice melts
Source: Agencies |
July 20, 2011, Wednesday
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POLAR bear cubs forced to swim long distances with their mothers as their icy Arctic habitat melts appear to have a higher mortality rate than cubs that didn't have to swim as far, a new study reports.
Polar bears hunt, feed and give birth on ice or on land, and are not naturally aquatic creatures. Previous reports have noted individual animals swimming hundreds of kilometers to reach ice platforms or land, but this is one of the first to show these swims pose a greater risk to polar bear young.
"Climate change is pulling the sea ice out from under polar bears' feet, forcing some to swim longer distances to find food and habitat," said Geoff York of World Wildlife Fund, a co-author of the study. York said this was the first time these long swims had been quantitatively measured.
To gather data, researchers used satellites and tracked 68 polar bear females equipped with GPS collars over six years, from 2004 through 2009, to find occasions when these bears swam more than 48.28 kilometers at a time.
There were 50 long-distance swims over those six years, involving 20 polar bears, according to a paper presented yesterday at the International Bear Association Conference in Ottawa, Canada.
Polar bears that swam long distances had a 45 percent mortality rate, the study found. Cubs that didn't swim long distances with their mothers had an 18 percent mortality rate, the study said.
Polar bears hunt, feed and give birth on ice or on land, and are not naturally aquatic creatures. Previous reports have noted individual animals swimming hundreds of kilometers to reach ice platforms or land, but this is one of the first to show these swims pose a greater risk to polar bear young.
"Climate change is pulling the sea ice out from under polar bears' feet, forcing some to swim longer distances to find food and habitat," said Geoff York of World Wildlife Fund, a co-author of the study. York said this was the first time these long swims had been quantitatively measured.
To gather data, researchers used satellites and tracked 68 polar bear females equipped with GPS collars over six years, from 2004 through 2009, to find occasions when these bears swam more than 48.28 kilometers at a time.
There were 50 long-distance swims over those six years, involving 20 polar bears, according to a paper presented yesterday at the International Bear Association Conference in Ottawa, Canada.
Polar bears that swam long distances had a 45 percent mortality rate, the study found. Cubs that didn't swim long distances with their mothers had an 18 percent mortality rate, the study said.
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