No less than two populations of polar bears within the excessive Arctic are growing paw accidents, probably due to shifting sea ice circumstances in a warming setting, in keeping with a brand new examine. Such accidents haven’t been reported in these areas beforehand, the examine’s authors write.
What the examine says
- Between 2012 and 2022, researchers studied two populations of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) within the excessive Arctic. They tranquilized a number of bears to file their age, intercourse, reproductive standing and well being.
- Through the well being checkups, the scientists noticed numerous accidents on the bears’ footpads, together with cuts, hair loss, pores and skin ulcerations and ice buildup. In two extreme circumstances, the grownup bears had thick ice blocks, 30 centimeters (1 foot) in diameter, caught to their paw pads and surrounding fur, inflicting deep, bleeding cuts. “The 2 most-affected bears couldn’t run — they couldn’t even stroll very simply,” lead writer Kristin Laidre, a scientist on the College of Washington, U.S., stated in a press release. “[T]he chunks of ice weren’t simply caught up within the hair. They had been sealed to the pores and skin, and whenever you palpated the toes it was obvious that the bears had been in ache.”
- The researchers write that such accidents “haven’t been noticed throughout earlier analysis in these areas or reported within the scientific literature.” The scientists additionally interviewed 22 Indigenous subsistence hunters from the area who stated they, too, had not noticed such accidents till lately.
- The examine’s authors speculate that the warming Arctic might be contributing to the bears’ paw accidents. Elevated rain-on-snow occasions, when rain falls on current snow, causes snow to soften extra shortly. Moist snow might be clumping on the bears’ paws, then refreezing into strong balls of ice as temperatures fall. Warming can also be inflicting the floor snow to soften, then refreeze into exhausting crust when the temperature drops once more. Heavy polar bears, whereas strolling, could be breaking via the crust and slicing their paws on the sharp edges. Native hunters reported related circumstances result in paw accidents of their sled canine.
Why it issues
The researchers say they’re uncertain how the accidents will have an effect on polar bear populations, however they speculate the accidents may cut back the bears’ “means to hunt and journey efficiently.”
Current analysis suggests the Arctic is warming practically 4 occasions quicker than the worldwide common. Winter warming and rain-on-snow occasions have additionally been growing in consequence, the authors write. Continued warming will probably create “difficult floor circumstances for polar bears to journey on” and make the polar bears, that are thought of weak to extinction, extra susceptible to accidents, they add.
This article by Shreya Dasgupta was first revealed by Mongabay.com on 25 October 2024. Lead picture of rear paws of a polar bear with massive chunks of ice frozen onto its toes. Picture courtesy of Kristin Laidre/College of Washington.
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