Polar bears are being killed off by global warming. Endangered species: polar bear Extinction of polar bears

The predatory mammal polar bear, or polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a close relative of the brown bear and the largest land predator on the planet today.

Characteristics and description

The polar bear is one of the largest terrestrial representatives of mammals from the order of predatory animals.. The body length of an adult individual is three meters and weighs up to a ton. The average weight of a male, as a rule, varies between 400-800 kg with a body length of 2.0-2.5 m. The height at the withers does not exceed one and a half meters. Females are much smaller, and their weight rarely exceeds 200-250 kg. The category of the smallest polar bears includes individuals inhabiting Spitsbergen, and the largest specimens are found near the Bering Sea.

This is interesting! A characteristic feature of polar bears is the presence of a fairly long neck and a flat head. The skin is black, and the color of the fur coat can vary from white to yellowish shades. In summer, the animal's fur turns yellow as a result of prolonged exposure to sunlight.

The fur of polar bears is completely devoid of pigmentation, and the hairs have a hollow structure. A feature of translucent hairs is the ability to transmit only ultraviolet light, which gives the wool high thermal insulation characteristics. There is also fur on the soles of the limbs to prevent slipping. Between the fingers there is a swimming membrane. Large claws allow the predator to hold even very strong and large prey.

Extinct subspecies

A closely related subspecies of the well-known and fairly common polar bear today is the extinct giant polar bear or U. maritimus tyrannus. A distinctive feature of this subspecies was its significantly larger body size. The body length of an adult individual could be four meters, and the average weight exceeded a ton.

On the territory of Great Britain, in Pleistocene deposits, it was possible to discover the remains of a single ulna belonging to a giant polar bear, which made it possible to determine its intermediate position. Apparently, the large predator was perfectly adapted to hunting fairly large mammals. According to scientists, the most likely reason for the extinction of the subspecies was an insufficient amount of food at the end of the glaciation period.

Habitat

The circumpolar habitat of the polar bear is limited to the northern coast of the continents and the southern part of the distribution of floating ice, as well as the border of the northern warm currents of the sea. The distribution area includes four areas:

permanent habitat;
habitat of high animal numbers;
place of regular residence of pregnant females;
territory of distant calls to the south.

Polar bears inhabit the entire coast of Greenland, the ice of the Greenland Sea south to the islands of Jan Mayen, the island of Spitsbergen, as well as Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya in the Barents Sea, the islands of Bear, Vaigach and Kolguev, and the Kara Sea. A significant number of polar bears are observed on the coast of the continents of the Laptev Sea, as well as the East Siberian, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The main habitat of the highest possible abundance of the predator is represented by the continental slope of the Arctic Ocean.

Pregnant female polar bears regularly den in the following areas:

northwest and northeast Greenland;
southeastern part of Spitsbergen;
western part of Franz Josef Land;
the northern part of the island of Novaya Zemlya;
small islands of the Kara Sea;
Severnaya Zemlya;
northern and northeastern coast of the Taimyr Peninsula;
the Lena delta and the Bear Islands of Eastern Siberia;
coast and adjacent islands of the Chukotka Peninsula;
Wrangel Island;
southern Banks Island;
Simpson Peninsula coastline;
northeastern coast of Baffin Island and Southampton Island.

Dens with pregnant polar bears have also been observed on pack ice in the Beaufort Sea. From time to time, usually in early spring, polar bears make long trips towards Iceland and Scandinavia, as well as the Kanin Peninsula, the Anadyr Bay and Kamchatka. With ice and when crossing Kamchatka, predatory animals sometimes end up in the Sea of Japan and Okhotsk.

Nutritional Features

Polar bears have a very well developed sense of smell, as well as hearing and vision, so it is not difficult for a predator to notice its prey at a distance of several kilometers.

The diet of a polar bear is determined by the characteristics of its distribution area and the characteristics of its body. The predator is ideally adapted to the harsh polar winter and long swims in icy water, so its prey most often becomes marine representatives of the animal world, including sea urchins and walruses. Eggs, chicks, young animals, as well as carrion in the form of corpses of sea animals and fish that are washed up on the coast are also used for food.

If possible, the polar bear's diet can be very selective. In captured seals or walruses, the predator primarily eats the skin and fat layer. However, a very hungry beast is capable of eating the corpses of its fellows. It is relatively rare that large predators enrich their diet with berries and moss. Changing climatic conditions have had a significant impact on nutrition, so recently polar bears are increasingly hunting on land.

Lifestyle

Polar bears make seasonal migrations, which are caused by annual changes in the territories and boundaries of polar ice. In summer, animals retreat towards the pole, and in winter, the animal population moves to the southern part and enters the mainland.

This is interesting! Despite the fact that polar bears mainly stay on the coast or ice, in winter the animals lie down in dens located on the mainland or island part, sometimes at a distance of fifty meters from the sea line.

The duration of winter hibernation for a polar bear, as a rule, varies between 50-80 days, but most often pregnant females hibernate. Males and young animals are characterized by irregular and fairly short winter hibernation.

On land, this predator is fast, and also swims well and dives very well.

Despite the apparent slowness, the slowness of the polar bear is deceptive. On land, this predator is distinguished by its agility and speed, and among other things, the large animal swims well and dives very well. To protect the polar bear's body, it has very thick and dense fur, which prevents it from getting wet in icy water and has excellent heat-retaining properties. One of the most important adaptive characteristics is the presence of a massive layer of subcutaneous fat, the thickness of which can reach 8-10 cm. The white color of the coat helps the predator to successfully camouflage itself against the background of snow and ice..

Reproduction

Based on numerous observations, the rutting period for polar bears lasts about a month and usually begins in mid-March. At this time, predators are divided into pairs, but there are also females accompanied by several males at once. The mating period lasts a couple of weeks.

Polar bear pregnancy

Lasts approximately eight months, but depending on a number of conditions, can vary between 195-262 days. It is almost impossible to visually distinguish a pregnant female from an unmarried polar bear. About a couple of months before giving birth, behavioral differences appear and females become irritable, inactive, lie on their stomachs for a long time and lose their appetite. A litter often contains a pair of cubs, and the birth of one cub is typical for young, primiparous females. A pregnant bear comes to land in the fall, and spends the entire winter period in a snowy den, most often located near the sea coast.

Caring for cubs

In the first days after birth, the polar bear lies curled up on her side almost all the time.. Short and sparse hair is not sufficient for independent heating, so newborn cubs are located between the mother’s paws and her chest, and the polar bear warms them with her breath. The average weight of newborn cubs most often does not exceed a kilogram with a body length of a quarter of a meter.

The cubs are born blind, and only at the age of five weeks do they open their eyes. A mother bear feeds her month-old cubs while sitting. The mass emergence of female bears occurs in March. Through a hole dug outside, the bear begins to gradually take her cubs out for a walk, but with the onset of night the animals return to the den again. During walks, the cubs play and dig in the snow.

This is interesting! In the polar bear population, approximately 15-29% of cubs and about 4-15% of immature individuals die.

Enemies in nature

In natural conditions, polar bears, due to their size and predatory instinct, have practically no enemies. The death of polar bears is most often caused by accidental injuries as a result of intraspecific clashes or when hunting walruses that are too large. Orca whales and polar sharks also pose a certain danger to adults and young individuals. Most often bears die from starvation.

Man was the most terrible enemy of the polar bear, and such peoples of the North as the Chukchi, Nenets and Eskimos hunted this polar predator from time immemorial. Fishing operations that began in the second half of the last century became disastrous for the population. During one season, St. John's worts destroyed more than a hundred individuals. More than sixty years ago, polar bear hunting was closed, and since 1965 it has been included in the Red Book.

Danger to humans

Cases of polar bear attacks on people are well known, and the most striking evidence of the predator’s aggression is recorded in the notes and reports of polar travelers, so you need to move around in places where a polar bear may appear, you need to be extremely careful. In populated areas located near the habitat of the polar predator, all containers with household waste must be inaccessible to the hungry animal. In the cities of the Canadian province, so-called “prisons” have been specially created in which bears approaching the city limits are temporarily kept.

The Arctic is changing rapidly. This land has always been an extreme place (regarding weather, daily routine, terrain features, etc.), but nowadays even in the tundra you can see fires.

Warming air and rising sea temperatures are wreaking havoc on the lands of Antarctica - the amount of permanent ice is decreasing, and coastal erosion is increasing every year. Fires in Alaska are also not uncommon. This can be explained by critical air temperatures and drying climate. Local residents are under threat of losing their homes and their usual way of life. Global warming is also dangerous for wildlife, especially for species that live directly on the ice, namely for.

In 2008, polar bears were listed as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), in part due to the projected impacts of climate change on their habitat. The latest modeling from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent polar bear populations from going extinct.

Drastic action was taken on July 2, 2008, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its draft Polar Bear Conservation Plan, calling for timely and decisive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. Reducing pollution is the only way to curb the threat of extinction of polar bears, and it is important that the public heed recommendations for an environmental stabilization plan.

Species that rely on centuries-old ice to survive, such as polar bears, are particularly vulnerable as the US Geological Survey predicts that ice at the North Pole will disappear completely by 2050 and it will be a while before it appears again. on these lands.

It is so arranged by nature that polar predators feast with pleasure when there is a lot of food, at the same time they are adapted to hunger strikes if there is not enough food; but their fat reserves are not enough to survive global warming.

Polar bears use ice as platforms to hunt fish, their main prey, and if the ice disappears, the animals will have to move away in search of food and new life.

This means that during periods of long ice absence, polar bears will have to rely on their own strength and rely only on their own fat reserves. They might find some food along the way, but as animals with enormous energy needs, bears are more likely to prey on the fatty, high-calorie mammals that also live on the ice surface.

The period of no ice can last more than four months, and will directly affect the polar bear population. In search of food, predators will enter cities and villages near the Arctic. Polar bears' keen sense of smell will lead them to garbage dumps. It's easy to imagine that these visits will often end badly.

Human intervention in the lives of polar bears

Besides the threat of climate change, another immediate threat to polar bears is increased offshore oil and gas production due to development of the Arctic Ocean. The US government recently gave Royal Dutch Shell permission to conduct exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea, home to one of the two polar bear populations.

As for the US Fish and Wildlife Service's polar bear conservation plan, it is designed to save 5 species of polar bears from extinction, living in five different regions: the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia.

A team of more than 30 polar bear experts, including staff from the World Wildlife Fund, has been working with the Fish and Wildlife Service for the past several years to ensure polar bears are in the best possible conditions in the event of complete and irreversible endangerment.

Bears are one of the most ancient animals on Earth. Their first ancestor appeared about 22 million years ago. Today there are eight known species of bears, and one of them is white. This blond is the largest predator on the planet and, according to scientists, one of the smartest mammals. Prostozoo has compiled a portrait of a white giant that has adapted to life in the coldest corners of the planet.
Scientists have found that sea bears, which is their scientific name, descended from brown bears that adapted to the harsh conditions of the Arctic. Today, polar bears can be found in the Arctic, northern Russia, Canada, the USA, Greenland and Norway. It used to be believed that polar bears are nomads, but this is not true. It's just that bears have a huge habitat and hunting area - up to 200 square meters. km.
Polar bears are real giants and are considered the largest land predators for good reason. The height of a male, if he stands on his hind legs, can reach 3 m, and the giants can weigh up to 700 kg. Ladies are half the size of their gentlemen and rarely grow more than 2 m; even less common among them are chubby women weighing more than 300 kg.

“Yes, the biggest one... Any questions?”

Polar bears are not actually white. Their hairs are transparent in color and have a thick, hollow core. This structure of the fur allows it to work as an ideal system for collecting and storing solar energy, thanks to which bears feel great in sub-zero temperatures. And the skin of bears, by the way, is black.
When moving to a warmer climate, the fur of a northerner may take on a bluish or greenish tint due to bacteria and microorganisms that multiply in the cavities of the hairs.

“We are not white, we are transparent! Oh, woe is me!

Popular wisdom says: you can’t get away with it! But the polar bears refute it and come out of the water unscathed. This option is available to them thanks to their very oily fur, which repels water and prevents them from getting wet.
Polar bears are notoriously clean. If the fur is dirty, they will not move until they clean themselves up. Daily hygiene procedures take 30-40 minutes.
The polar bear is one of the best swimmers among land animals. Some scientists even classify it as a marine mammal. In one dive, the bear is able to cover a distance of 100 km. In water, it reaches speeds of up to 10 km per hour, for comparison, the maximum speed of Olympic swimmers is 6-7 km per hour. It is interesting that when swimming, the bear rows only with its front paws, while its hind paws act as a rudder.
The bear's paws are ideal oars; they are perfectly adapted for swimming: much wider than those of other representatives of the bear family and with webbed toes. On land, the miracle paws prevent you from falling into the snow, and thanks to its long claws, the bear does not slip on ice.

Miracle paws, close-up

Miracle Paws, background

"Follow me..."

Underwater plan

The polar bear is not inferior to penguins in high jumps. He can easily emerge from the water onto an ice floe 2.5 m high.

“Otherwise!”

The bears' worst enemy is not cold, but heat, and they fear overheating much more than hypothermia. Polar explorers can overheat even at sub-zero temperatures, so they prefer slow promenades to fast jogging and spend a lot of time resting. The bears walk slowly, but if necessary they can take off at a speed of 40 km per hour.
Polar bears are very emotional: after an unsuccessful hunt, they can flare up and scatter huge pieces of ice around them. Pieces of ice are not the only thing they throw from time to time: polar explorers are real strongmen and can throw 90 kg of seals into the air.
Whites are meat eaters. The basis of their diet: fish, seals, fur seals, less often they hunt birds.

Snack

The polar explorer has a keen sense of smell; his nose is able to detect a seal through a layer of snow and ice 1.5 m thick and at a distance of up to 32 km.
Despite the fact that the polar bear is a renowned hunter, only in 2% of hunts does it return with prey.
The stomach of a successful hunter can store up to 70 kg of fat, which nourishes it during long treks in the ice and turns into subcutaneous fat. Thanks to this, the bear can go hungry for several months even in the most severe frosts. Unlike humans, bears have no problems with gear. They themselves are the ideal "fishing equipment". But to compare, fishermen need to choose high-quality fishing rods and reels, hooks and lures. Special prices for fishing products from the best manufacturers help them a lot in this.

Polar bears cannot be called sleepyheads; they do not know what hibernation is. This is not surprising, because given the climate in their habitat, hibernation would become a permanent state. Only a pregnant female can afford to hide in a den and fall asleep for three months before giving birth.
When polar bears sleep, in order to retain heat, they cover their nose and eyes with their paws, because these are the only organs that emit it.
Polar bears spend most of their lives alone. And only the instinct of reproduction makes them go in search of a partner. The mating period for bears lasts from March to July, but the fertilized egg begins to develop in the female’s womb only in September.

“Hurray, I was born!”

Bear cubs are born very tiny and rarely weigh more than half a kilogram.
In the first months of life, 30% of cubs die. Caring for the babies falls entirely on the female.

“March out of the den!”

In the wild, the lifespan of polar bears is 20-25 years, and in a zoo they can live up to 40. Longevity in the wild is due to the fact that polar explorers have no natural enemies except humans and global warming. Polar bears are not afraid of anyone, and feel safe in their native lands.

“I’m having a blast!”

Eskimos, who hunt bears, eat everything except, of course, the skin and liver, which pose a mortal danger to humans. 500 g of polar bear liver contains more than 9 million units of vitamin A, while a person can only absorb 10 thousand units.
Global warming is turning bears into cannibals. As the ice melts, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to catch seals and seals. Sometimes females eat sick cubs, and adult males attack a younger and weaker relative. Many bears, in search of food, go on long voyages, hoping to meet ice floes with lunch on the way, and when they don’t meet them, they drown.

Drifting Misha

If the melting of glaciers continues, then, according to scientists, in 30 years polar bears will only be seen in zoos.

Days in the northern hemisphere are getting longer and warmer. Of course, people are rejoicing at the coming warmth. However, the same cannot be said about polar bears. Animals feel great at temperatures of -45 degrees and below. But they experience discomfort from overheating. In addition, an increase in average temperatures creates the preconditions for a reduction in the population of the planet's largest predator.

What is happening in the Arctic today? Polar bears feed exclusively on the meat of mammals, mainly pinnipeds: seals, seals; in addition, the bear eats carrion and what the sea throws up. Sometimes, when he is especially hungry, he feeds on rodents, moss and berries.

The reduction in ice cover in the Arctic seas and changes in the age structure of sea ice are forcing polar bears to spend more time on the coast and on islands. Staying on the shore for a long time, polar bears are deprived of access to their main food source - seals living on sea ice, and are also at high risk of collision with humans, as a result of which they can be shot.

Today, according to scientists, there are 20-25 thousand individuals left on earth. Is it a lot or a little? Should we preserve this species? And if they should, then why? Let's figure it out.

So, are there many polar bears left? NO! Their number is extremely small. And it continues to decline, despite the protection of the animal and prohibitions on its production. Just one fact. Between 2004 and 2007, out of 80 human-tagged polar bear cubs, only two survived. Previously, at least 50% of newborns managed to survive.

The answer to the next question has already become obvious. We must, we simply must, protect this species from extinction. And this should be done not because polar bears are cute, or so that our descendants will see them in person and not in photographs. If the polar bear disappears, the Arctic ecosystem will also be under threat. As we already know, the polar bear’s diet consists of various marine animals, mainly pinnipeds. Based on this fact, it can be assumed that the population of these species will increase sharply after the disappearance of their main enemy. But the number of fish living in the waters of the Arctic Ocean may decrease, as there will be many more marine predators, which means they will need more food. And this will be a huge problem for both animals and people.

On the other hand, polar bears provide food for small predators that are unable to feed themselves by hunting. If a bear manages to kill a walrus, then first of all it devours the skin and fat, the rest of the carcass only in case of severe hunger. The remains of the prey are usually eaten by arctic foxes. This means that without the help of intelligence, arctic foxes may be on the verge of extinction or even die.

Thus, people must do everything to keep the polar bear alive.

What steps is Russia taking in this direction?

In Russia, polar bear hunting has been completely prohibited since 1957; this species is listed in the Red Book. Other Arctic countries began introducing hunting restrictions much later.

Since 2010, the Russian Geographical Society has supported the Polar Bear project. Its goal is the conservation and study of polar bears in the Russian Arctic, the development of non-invasive methods for collecting biological material (shed guard hairs, excrement) for genetic studies of the population structure of the species in the region.

By the way, the study of these animals by Russian scientists is the most humane thing in the world. Thus, in the USA, to study polar bears, a fang is still removed from a euthanized animal. What is it like for a predator to live without tools for hunting?

The Russian Geographical Society is constantly expanding the range of polar bear research: first it was the Barents Sea population, in 2013 an aerial census of the Chukchi-Alaskan population was carried out for the first time, and in 2014 work began on the coast of Taimyr.

The work is being carried out in collaboration with the Council on Marine Mammals, the Russian Arctic National Park, the Taimyr Nature Reserves, as well as the A.N. Institute of Ecology and Evolution. Severtsov RAS.

On March 22-24 this year, Russian scientists met with American colleagues in San Diego. During the meeting, a document was signed on a joint study of polar bears in Chukotka and Alaska in the period 2016-2018.

Thus, for many years Russia has been concerned about preserving the population of the northern predator. We understand that saving polar bears means preserving the Arctic ecosystem, and, consequently, the Earth’s ecosystem.

Well, who will now say that Russia is pursuing only its own utilitarian goals in the Arctic?

"The Lonely Bear Is White"
Scientists are trying to stop the disappearance of toptygins with the help of collars and “michel traps”

Polar bears are becoming extinct. In half a century, according to expert forecasts, their numbers will decrease by 30%. And there will be just over 15 thousand of these amazing animals left on the planet. The owner of the white desert is threatened by several troubles at once: global warming, pollution of the Arctic with oil waste and - well, how could we live without them - poachers. But for the Russian Toptygins, as it turned out, not everything is so bad. Experts who recently returned from Franz Josef Land came to the conclusion that domestic polar bears live better than Canadian or American ones.
This is the second, but the largest expedition to study the polar bear by specialists from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. A.N. Severtsov RAS. They received a grant for this scientific work last year from the Russian Geographical Society. The head of the Laboratory of Behavior and Behavioral Ecology of Mammals, Deputy Director of the Institute of Ecology and Ecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vyacheslav Rozhnov, spoke about the latest data on the study of the Red Book predator.

What was the purpose of your expedition?

The lives of polar bears have changed over the past decades. And our task was to find out what these changes could lead to and what we should do to prevent polar bears from disappearing from the face of the Earth. Despite the fact that polar bears can live on a large continent, their main habitats are ice, where they find in abundance their favorite food - seals that have come out to “get some fresh air.” The lives of polar bears are also influenced by changes directly related to humans. Animals are now more concentrated on the shore, often ending up near populated areas, which increases the likelihood of collisions with people.

How did you check the health of club feet?

To take tests from the bears, we had to immobilize them. In total, we “put down” 12 animals. Each person was put to sleep for about an hour. During this time, it was necessary to have time to take samples of their fur, a blood test (and for this you also need to find a vein), measure, weigh, and put on a collar with a satellite radio beacon. And each animal had to be transported somewhere beyond the ice hummock, so that in the open place it would not get blown out and catch a cold. Well, of course, there should have been some time left in order to escape on our own.

Can a polar bear catch a cold?

But of course! If polar bears have adapted well to the conditions of the Far North, this does not mean that they cannot get sick. Anything can happen. A bear wanders into the village, looks into the barrel where the fuel oil was, gets all dirty, and after a while dives into the icy water. He doesn’t understand that sticky fur won’t save him from hypothermia. So it is here. The animal is sleeping. But not in a den, but in an open place. And we must take care that it does not freeze.

How, in the conditions of the polar night, did you manage to first catch up, then catch and euthanize such huge predators?

There are many methods of catching. You can chase the bear on all-terrain vehicles, as we did this time. Possibly from a helicopter. You approach at a relatively close distance, shoot a syringe with sleeping pills from an air rifle, and after a few minutes the animal begins to fall asleep. But first we wanted to use another, as it seemed to us, more gentle method. Lure the animal into a special cage-trap with something tasty, and when it entered, the door should automatically slam shut. For this we bought special Canadian traps. We tested them in permafrost conditions, without bears, of course, and realized that it was better to abandon them altogether. It turned out that the lid of this trap is a real guillotine. It descends sharply and with its weight can cut any animal in half. Well, for example, a bear, attracted by the smell of meat, will walk into a trap, and the cubs will follow her, and then one of them will be slammed. Of course, the Canadians included a brake device for the lid in their design. However, the liquefied gas on which it operates freezes in the cold and the mechanism does not work.

Was it safe to approach a bear on all-terrain vehicles?

We kept our distance. They shot from a distance of 15-20 meters.

What if there is a mother bear with cubs?

The cubs were not touched. They sat peacefully next to their mother and looked at us.

What did the blood and fur tests ultimately show?

The blood test is still in progress, and from the hair we have determined that polar bears that live on Franz Josef Land have an order of magnitude less mercury than animals inhabiting the Western Hemisphere. We draw on data from Canadian, Danish and Icelandic scientists who collected samples from bears living on Cornwall and the islands of the Western Hemisphere. The mercury content of those bears is several times higher than the norm. We also looked for almost the entire periodic table in our bears - and did not find any excesses in any heavy metal.

How can we explain the accumulation of mercury in bears in the Western Hemisphere?

We assume that the bears absorbed mercury along with food. Maybe for some reason seals, seals or other marine animals contain increased amounts of mercury.

For what purpose were bears wearing collars with satellite communication?

To trace their movements across the Arctic, to find out what routes they take. We first tested the collars in April last year, during our first bear study expedition. True, then our experiment did not end very well. We only put a couple of satellite collars on two males. However, one animal pulled off the cunning contraption literally the next day. And the second, having traveled 70 kilometers, dived into the wormwood, and the collar slipped into the water. Both “experimental subjects” were males, and the structure of the neck of males does not allow the collars to hold tightly. Females in this sense are much more convenient, but in the spring we did not pursue or disturb them, because at this time mother bears walk with newly born cubs.

And what did the collars show during the second expedition?

All three females with the cubs they were wearing went from Alexandra Island in the same direction. And now they are on the edge of the ice in the center of a kind of triangle between the Kola Peninsula, Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land. The distance between them is sometimes about 20 km, and sometimes they are almost nearby. Perhaps, thanks to our collars, it will be possible to test one assumption. It is believed that there are 19 populations of polar bears in the world, which are isolated from each other. In fact, they share the entire north of the planet among themselves. In Russia, by the way, there are only 3 populations. But now, with changes in the area of Arctic ice that are occurring quite intensively and forcing bears to move towards the North Pole, scientists have a question: is mixing of populations happening? What if, at least once a year, bears each go their own way to the top of the Earth, meet there and begin to communicate with each other? To answer this question, both satellite tracking and molecular genetic studies are needed.

By the way, are these bears really that white?

Animals often get their fur dirty, so it is far from ideal. Which, however, does not detract from its merits. There are enough hunters to get this skin and put it on the floor.

How does the government solve this problem?

The polar bear is listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and is completely removed from economic use. It has been illegal to hunt since 1957 and those who do so are committing a criminal offence. But for the indigenous peoples of the North, the Chukchi, the polar bear is one of the symbols of their life. In June 2010, Russia and the United States agreed on an annual quota for bear harvesting in Alaska and Chukotka of 58 individuals - 29 for each country. And the annual poaching of polar bears in Russia is estimated by experts at 100-200 animals. The Chukchi are indiscriminately accused of selling their quotas while they themselves conduct illegal shooting. But for the Chukchi, polar bear hunting is a centuries-old tradition, part of the culture. This is how this nation raises hunters. How many totems, legends, and household rituals are associated with the bear! I believe that the Chukchi themselves are interested in preventing poaching. And they have long learned to protect their farm and their lives from these predators without killing the animal. Organized their own bear patrols. In order to prevent the animals from approaching the village located near the walrus rookery and not creating conflict situations, the Chukchi go on an all-terrain vehicle to the shore, where the corpses of dead animals accumulate. They take the mountain of corpses away from the dwelling, and the bear follows the smell and goes to this place, bypassing the Chukotka village. And in the villages where polar explorers or oil workers live, people have not yet learned to brave the predator. In Taimyr, for example, when a polar bear appears, oil workers cannot go to work.

You can't tell by looking that this beast is so scary.

If you meet him one on one among the white silence, you will immediately understand who is the master of this icy desert. The polar bear is very dangerous. But when you approach him on some kind of equipment, there is such helplessness in his eyes... My heart sank. Man has already proven that there is no animal stronger than himself. But this does not give us a reason to offend the weaker.