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Polar Bears - Data, Pictures and Videos
Polar Bears - Data, Pictures and Videos
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Polar Bears - Data, Pictures and Videos
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How much does a Polar Bear weigh?
Weight was also the hot topic on Monday at our sister park, the Highland Wildlife Park as Mercedes the polar bear had her first weigh-in! Mercedes is the only polar bear in a UK zoo and she arrived at the Highland Wildlife Park from Edinburgh Zoo last October. At Highland Wildlife Park she has a four and a half-acre purpose-built enclosure and since her arrival she has settled in extremely well. Since arriving at Highland Wildlife Park keepers have been continuing with positive reinforcement training. Training is done to facilitate husbandry and health checks as it means that basic checks and tasks can be carried out without causing stress to the animal and without the need for anesthetic. Positive reinforcement involves animals getting a reward when they give the correct behaviour and keepers have been using this to encourage Mercedes to step on to mechanical scales in her enclosure.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Polar bear measures shoulder height.
http://www.newscats.org/?p=12532  *This image is copyright of its original author
Female polar bear stands height.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
Dozens of polar bears have been recorded feasting on a whale carcass as more than 200 others watch
Relative influences of climate change and human activity on the onshore distribution of polar bears Wilson et al., 2017
Abstract: "Climate change is altering habitat for many species, leading to shifts in distributions that can increase levels of human-wildlife conflict. To develop effective strategies for minimizing human-wildlife conflict, we must understand the relative influences that climate change and other factors have on wildlife distributions. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are increasingly using land during summer and autumn due to sea ice loss, leading to higher incidents of conflict and concerns for human safety. We sought to understand the relative influence of sea ice conditions, onshore habitat characteristics, and human-provisioned food attractants on the distribution and abundance of polar bears while on shore. We also wanted to determine how mitigation measures might reduce human-polar bear conflict associated with an anthropogenic food source. We built a Bayesian hierarchical model based on 14 years of aerial survey data to estimate the weekly number and distribution of polar bears on the coast of northern Alaska in autumn. We then used the model to predict how effective two management options for handling subsistence-harvested whale remains in the community of Kaktovik, Alaska might be. The distribution of bears on shore was most strongly influenced by the presence of whale carcasses and to a lesser extent sea ice and onshore habitat conditions. The numbers of bears on shore were related to sea ice conditions. The two management strategies for handling the whale carcasses reduced the estimated number of bears near Kaktovik by > 75%. By considering multiple factors associated with the onshore distribution and abundance of polar bears we discerned what role human activities played in where bears occur and how successful efforts to manage the whale carcasses might be for reducing human-polar bear conflict." 
Credits Paul Nicklen
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 7, 2017 By Sarah Gibbens Polar bear starving arctic sea ice melt climate change When photographer Paul Nicklen and filmmakers from conservation group Sea Legacy arrived in the Baffin Islandsin late summer, they came across a heartbreaking sight: a starving polar bear on its deathbed. Nicklen is no stranger to bears. From the time he was a child growing up in Canada's far north the biologist turned wildlife photographer has seen over 3,000 bears in the wild. But the emaciated polar bear, featured in videos Nicklen published to social media on December 5, was one of the most gut-wrenching sights he's ever seen. "We stood there crying—filming with tears rolling down our cheeks," he said. Video shows the polar bear clinging to life, its white hair limply covering its thin, bony frame. One of the bear's back legs drags behind it as it walks, likely due to muscle atrophy. Looking for food, the polar bear slowly rummages through a nearby trashcan used seasonally by Inuit fishers. It finds nothing and resignedly collapses back down onto the ground. In the days since Nicklen posted the footage, he's been asked why he didn’t intervene. "Of course, that crossed my mind," said Nicklen. "But it's not like I walk around with a tranquilizer gun or 400 pounds of seal meat." And even if he did, said Nicklen, he only would have been prolonging the bear's misery. Plus, feeding wild polar bears is illegal in Canada. The wildlife photographer says he filmed the bear's slow, beleaguered death because he didn't want it to die in vain. "When scientists say bears are going extinct, I want people to realize what it looks like. Bears are going to starve to death," said Nicklen. "This is what a starving bear looks like." By telling the story of one polar bear, Nicklen hopes to convey a larger message about how a warming climatehas deadly consequences. Polar bears have long been unwitting mascots for the effects of climate change. As animals that live only in Arctic regions, they're often the first to feel the impacts of warming temperatures and rising seas. The large, half-ton bears find concentrations of seals on sea ice. During summer months, it's not uncommon for polar bears to go months without eating while they wait for Arctic ice to solidify. In 2002, a World Wildlife Fund report predicted that climate change could eventually lead to polar bear endangerment or extinction. Even then, the report found that polar bears were moving from ice to land earlier and staying on land longer, unhealthily extending the bears' fasting season. By the end of summer, most bears studied by the World Wildlife Fund showed signs of starvation. Fifteen years later, polar bears' icy hunting grounds are in even worse shape. The National Snow and Ice Data Center, which tracks sea ice cover annually, has regularly noted record lows in sea ice coverage—a decline that is expected to only get worse. (Read more about drastic predictions for dwindling sea ice.) A study recently published in the journal Biosciences looked at how climate science is often falsely discredited. The study found climate deniers are able to downplay the threat of climate change by discrediting the threat facing polar bears. However, a study published last year by the European Geosciences Unionand this year by the U.S. Geological Survey confirms melting sea ice continues to be an existential threat to polar bears. 
Photo and information credits: Jayanth Sharma
Well well well - it's been a few weeks since I have been active on social media. A long trip to South America and Antarctica and 16 hours of work every day for the last couple of weeks while we are about to roll out something interesting at TOEHOLD While I'll still take a week to share some updates about what's in store, i want to leave behind a picture I just printed before I fly again tomorrow to my favourite haven - Masai Mara, Kenya. See you, guys soon.  *This image is copyright of its original author
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Winter-Causi...1630060356
Climate change has been a perplexing problem for years. In Dark Winter, author John L. Casey, a former White House national space policy advisor, NASA headquarters consultant, and space shuttle engineer tells the truth about ominous changes taking place in the climate and the Sun. Casey’s research into the Sun’s activity, which began almost a decade ago, resulted in discovery of a solar cycle that is now reversing from its global warming phase to that of dangerous global cooling for the next thirty years or more. This new cold climate will dramatically impact the world’s citizens. In Dark Winter, he provides evidence of the following:
Since that book was published we have already recorded record breaking global temps, twice!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jan/23/were-now-breaking-global-temperature-records-once-every-three-years 
Credits to Jack Bell.
Polar Bear near Seal River, Manitoba.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Paul Nicklen.
He was massive. Later, while assessing his paw prints, I could stand with both feet in my size 10 winter boots inside one of his paw prints. In Inuktitut, Tumiit means paw prints and I love how I have always followed in the tracks of these nomadic carnivores.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Black wolf referees polar bear sparring match at Nanuk. Jiangou Xie photo.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
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