Nature Canada

International Polar Bear Day: A Time to Celebrate and Save this Iconic Species

Nature Canada is always happy for an excuse to celebrate one of Canada’s most charismatic species. That’s why we’d like to note that February 27 isn’t any old day—it’s International Polar Bear Day!

An iconic symbol of Canada and the North, polar bears have some truly unique adaptations that allow them to survive in frigid Arctic and sub-Arctic conditions—did you know their hairs are hollow to maximize insulation? We can also learn a lot by observing polar bears. Namely: what their size and behaviours tell us about our changing climate.

Dr. Martyn Obbard is a long-time polar bear researcher and a scientific advisor to Polar Bears International. He’s spent more than 30 years studying the species—with particular attention to how a polar bear’s body has changed over time.

Obbard and his co-authors published research in 2018 that found the population of polar bears along the southeastern shores of Hudson Bay and the James Bay Coast had declined by 17 percent in five years, from 943 bears to 780. The population had previously been considered stable.

Unfortunately, these findings did not surprise Obbard, who told Canadian Geographic that the bears had an average of 30 fewer days to hunt than they did in 1980. Polar bears historically spend most of their time on the ice, hunting for their preferred dinner: ringed seals.

As sea ice disappears in Hudson Bay and other regions, so too shrinks the window of time in which polar bears can get the food they need to be healthy.

As a result, their body mass is smaller. While Obbard and his colleagues found that similar sized litters of polar bear cubs are being born each year, the number of cubs that survive to reach yearling age (20-22 months) may be dropping.

Climate change doesn’t only affect the speed of sea ice melt and a polar bear’s diet—it also shifts the range in which plants and animals are found. “We’re talking about a redistribution of the entire planet’s species,” one researcher explained to National Geographic.

That could have further implications for polar bears. While their sea ice habitat shrinks, the territory habitable by other bear species is increasing. That includes grizzly bear populations that have been making their way north. While interbreeding between the species is possible, many biologists believe hybrids are few and far between and that we need to protect the polar bear population as we know it today.

International Polar Bear Day is an opportunity to celebrate the species—but also ask what comes next. Protecting our natural areas is key to preventing species collapse of polar bears and the other animals we love. Ready to make a difference for the polar bear and make room for nature? See what you can do today.

A special thanks to biologist Franco Mariotti for his invaluable help with this blog post.

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