Polar bears are lacking the means to adapt their behavior and manage their food habits that are linked to the unusual warmer summers in the Arctic. New study states that the polar bears are suffering due to the shortage of food in their food chain and ends up starving.
Researchers says that the means to survival in a warmer world are grim for polar bears. Polar bears were registered as a threatened species in the US during the year 2008. During that time the Secretary of the Interior revealed that a rapid decline in sea ice played the major role in threatening the future existence of the bears.
The diet for polar bears are usually seals that they hunt on the sea ice. However, an increased melting of the ice during the summer season decreases the number of seal. Consequently, the bears find it very challenging to search for their much needed meal.
Some researchers have claimed that polar bears deal with this situation by reducing the intake of calorie via entering a low-activity state termed ‘walking hibernation’, similar to the way that many species of bear cope with winter.
The study costs were pretty high, calling for over 200 people. Researchers also had to hire an icebreaker and helicopters. The researchers says that their effort is very unlikely to be ever repeated again.
The paper has been published in the journal Science.
