Quote:A video of a starving polar bear recently went viral, tugging at viewers’ heartstrings as the emaciated creature makes its way across an iceless wasteland. Some experts, however, say that the video, which has been seen by millions of people, may not be all that it seems.

National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen and filmmakers from conservation group Sea Legacy spotted the bear on the Baffin Islands in Canada in late August.

The bear is seen rummaging through a trash can in the video, which has been held up as an illustration of the effects of climate change. “As temperatures rise and sea ice melts, polar bears lose access to the main staple of their diets — seals,” the video explains.

However, Nunavut polar bear monitor Leo Ikakhik told CBC that he was not surprised by the sight of the starving bear in the video. "Everybody probably was shocked to see a really skinny bear, but this is not my first time seeing something like this,” he told Carol Off, host of CBC’s radio show "As It Happens."

Ikakhik, who has been monitoring polar bear activity since 2010, said that the polar bear in the video may have been sick or recovering from an injury that made it unable to hunt. "I wouldn't really blame the climate change. It's just part of the animal, what they go through."

The possibility that the polar bear was ill or aged was also discussed in an article in Canada’s National Post.

Sea Legacy co-founder Cristina Mittermeier told "As it Happens" that, while the precise reasons for the bear’s state are unknown, she hopes that the video will prompt discussion about how climate change impacts wildlife

Quote:In a blog post, Amstrup noted that climate change may not be the main factor contributing to the sad demise of the polar bear in video.

“We cannot say, from the footage captured here, that this bear’s malnutrition was caused by global warming and its associated sea ice loss,” he wrote. “Polar bears have few natural predators. Although they normally live a long time, they are not immortal. All eventually die and most do so because they have not been able to capture enough food. This means that malnutrition is a major cause of death for polar bears.”

However, climate change does pose a very real threat to polar bear populations, Amstrup added. “Despite uncertainties about how this bear got into this starving condition, we can be absolutely certain if we allow the world to continue to warm, there will be ever greater numbers of such events as survival rates decline over more and more of the polar bear range,” Amstrup said. “And we can be certain that, without halting greenhouse gas rise, the world’s polar bears gradually will disappear.”

(12-14-2017 08:33 AM)shere khan Wrote:  A friend of mine shot a charging polar bear. Skinned him and ate him. Man's dominion over animals is a very groovy thing.

(12-14-2017 10:25 AM)Lush Wrote:  

(12-14-2017 08:33 AM)shere khan Wrote:  A friend of mine shot a charging polar bear. Skinned him and ate him. Man's dominion over animals is a very groovy thing.

like the use of all those pesticides in the middle part of the 1900's. very groovy