Many species around the world are affected by climate change, but the polar bear is perhaps the most visible representation of change. A polar bear stranded on a melting iceberg has become a symbol of today’s concerns over global warming. However, the science is clear. Melting sea ice directly affects polar bears’ habitats and their ability to survive. This YouTube video from @JungleJourney-007 shows the remarkable ingenuity of polar bears in their hunt for food, and also the devastation it can bring to species that were formerly safe from bears.
Polar bears hunt for seals, waiting for them to pop up from holes in the ice.
©Alexey_Seafarer/iStock via Getty Images
The Polar Bear’s Predicament — Climate Change and Melting Sea Ice
In the video, a 500-pound polar bear climbs a sheer cliff wall in search of food. The narrator of the video tells us the cliff is nearly 1,000 feet high. Watching the video, you can see how precarious and challenging it is for the polar bear to navigate.
Why would a polar bear risk its life and waste valuable energy climbing up this cliff? The narrator explains that the bear followed guillemots to ransack their nests. Guillemots are a type of seabird that nest close to shore. Resembling penguins, these duck-sized birds live in the Arctic Circle. Instead of feasting on seals, which is a polar bear’s usual meal, this polar bear ate the guillemot’s chicks and eggs.
Guillemots nest on the side of rocky cliffs in the hopes of avoiding predators.
©Giedriius/Shutterstock.com
The seabirds nest on the side of cliffs to avoid predators. But when a polar bear makes its way up the side of the cliff, the birds have no way to fight back. The narrator tells us, “pillaged every nest he found, leaving nothing behind. The polar bear would stay on the cliffs for the entire summer until the guillemots departed.”
Traditional Hunting Grounds Disappearing
Polar bears live on sea ice where they prey on seals. Seals provide a high fat content for the bears that need to maintain their fat to keep warm. Female polar bears also need to keep a thick layer of fat to produce milk for nursing cubs. Polar bears lie in wait near holes in the ice, waiting for seals to emerge. But when their hunting grounds disappear due to melting ice, polar bears have to find other sources of food.
Melting sea ice from human-driven climate change threatens the habitats of polar bears.
©Andrewfel/Shutterstock.com
Around 2006, wildlife experts began to notice a new trend among polar bears. The bears were climbing steep cliffs where birds nest in search of their eggs and nestlings. Because the bears are so large, they can consume a massive amount of eggs. One bear in southern Southampton Island in Canada was observed eating the eggs from 400 nests.
Unfortunately, eating seabird eggs isn’t ideal for either species. It doesn’t provide the polar bears with the high-fat content that they need. It also takes many eggs to feed a polar bear, which can be devastating to the bird population.
The post This Polar Bear is Willing To Walk Long Distances To Get His Food appeared first on A-Z Animals.
