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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
A boatload of tourists in the far eastern Russian Arctic thought they were seeing clumps of ice on the shore, before the jaw-dropping realisation that some 200 polar bears were roaming on the mountain slope.
"It was a completely unique situation," said Alexander Gruzdev, director of the Wrangel Island nature reserve where the encounter in September happened. "We were all gobsmacked, to be honest."
The bears had come to feast on the carcass of a bowhead whale that washed ashore, later resting around the food source. The crowd included many families, including two mothers trailed by a rare four cubs each, Gruzdev told AFP.
Climate change means ice, where polar bears are most at home, is melting earlier in the year and so polar bears have to spend longer on land, scientists say.
This might wow tourists but means the bears, more crammed together on coasts and islands, will eventually face greater competition for the little food there is on land.
Locals are also at risk from hungry animals venturing into villages.
Wrangel Island, off the coast of Russia's Chukotka in the northeast, is where polar bears rest after ice melts in early-August until November, when they can leave land to hunt for seals.
It is also considered the birthing centre for the species, with the highest density of maternity dens in the entire Arctic, Gruzdev said.
"A whale is a real gift for them," he said. "An adult whale is several tens of tonnes" that many bears can feed on for several months.
Studies have shown that, compared with 20 years ago, polar bears now spend on average a month longer on Wrangel Island because "ice is melting earlier and the ice-free period is longer," said Eric Regehr, from the University of Washington, the lead American scientist on the US-Russian collaborative study of Wrangel Island polar bears.
Changing ice conditions could also be responsible for the increasing number of bears flocking there, Regehr said.
This autumn, the number of bears observed was 589, far exceeding previous estimates of 200-300, he said, calling it "anomalously high".
[...] "We cannot stop climate change, but we can sort out the situation on the shore and make life easier for the bears," he said, referring to measures such as bear patrols to minimise conflict with humans.
"With changes in nature, that has to be attended to."
(Score: 4, Informative) by bradley13 on Saturday November 25 2017, @07:29AM (4 children)
Of course, the alarmists ignore any inconvenient facts, like the increase in the polar bear population over the past 15 years [polarbearscience.com].
As for how "crowded" the poor polar bears are: There are around 30,000 of them, in all of the arctic (Greenland + Russia + Canada + ice cap). The amazing thing is that 200 of them manage to gather to eat a whale corpse.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by t-3 on Saturday November 25 2017, @01:11PM (1 child)
Yeah, bears are one of the last species I'd worry about, as long as hunting is kept in check and ample environment is set aside. They're some of the most intelligent, adaptable, and tough animals on the planet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 25 2017, @02:56PM
To pick a nit, "bear" (Ursus) isn't a species; it's a genus.
(Think: black bear, brown bear, grizzly bear, polar bear.)
FTFS: two mothers trailed by a rare four cubs each
I recently read something by a grizzly bear conservationist:
The main part of the article [counterpunch.org] is about how amazing bear physiology is, with them not peeing or pooping for months.
There is no "waste"; EVERYTHING gets recycled.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 25 2017, @03:24PM (1 child)
Global population of polar bears has increased by 2,650 - 5,700 since 2001
That defies logic.
Melting Ice Threatens Polar Bears' Survival -- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution [whoi.edu]
Maybe more are being counted because there are more near where humans are--instead of being out on sea ice where they're supposed to be (where the seals are).
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Touché) by khallow on Saturday November 25 2017, @04:14PM
When reality defies the logic, then the logic is wrong.