Polar Bear Population Hidden in Impossible Locations, Study Explains

KOMPAS.com – Scientists discover population polar bears Greenland on the steep slopes around the fjords, the coves on the long and narrow coast are where they meet glacier with the ocean.

The fjord is home to bear Located on the southern edge of the Arctic Circle, the southeastern pole is sea ice-free for more than 250 years.

This place seems impossible to live in polar bear populationdue to almost no floating sea ice platforms.

It is said that these polar bears hunt on top of the broken glacial ice sheet in the bay.

The findings suggest the possibility that polar bears could adapt to sea ice disappearing as climate change worsens. However, this cannot be interpreted for all species.

“Glacier ice may help small numbers of polar bears survive longer under a warming climate, but it’s not available to most polar bears,” said lead researcher Kristin Laidre, a wildlife scientist at the Center for Polar Science at the University of Washington. , Friday (17/6/2022).

Also read: Why Are There No Polar Bears in Antarctica?

Recently, scientists have identified 19 sub-populations of polar bears polar bear who live in the Arctic Circle.

One of these bear populations stretches for 3,200 kilometers on the east coast of Greenland.

However, when the researchers looked closely at this group to monitor their numbers, they realized that the bears were actually made up of two completely separate populations.

The researchers analyzed 36 years of tracking data from bears tagged with GPS necklaces, and found bears from southeastern Greenland did not cross the latitude 64 degrees north and bears from the northeast did not cross the same line in other directions.

Genetic sampling of individual bears confirms the southeastern bear is distinct from its northeastern neighbour.

“We present the first evidence for a genetically distinct and functionally isolated group of polar bears in southeastern Greenland, which meets the criteria for recognition as the world’s 20th polar bear subpopulation,” the researchers wrote in the study published in Science Journal on June 16 last.

In the new study, the researchers used genetic data to identify two polar bear individuals who could have been immigrants from the northeastern population.

Also read: Good News, Scientists Find New Healthy Polar Bear Population

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