Research on polar bear poop reveals further inland hunting

 

"We found they were eating more of what is available on the land," including snow geese, eggs and caribou, said study co-author Linda Gormezano, a vertebrate biologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

 

The trail of evidence 

 

A 2013 study in the journal Ecology and Evolution compared polar bear poop collected in modern times against analysis conducted from 1968 to 1969, when climate change hadn't dramatically affected the habitat.

 

The study reported that, back then, the scat contained fewer snow geese remnants compared to modern times, and the modern scat contained caribou and goose eggs not found in earlier specimens, suggesting the polar bear diet had changed.

 

According to Gormezano, the change can be attributed in part to melting sea ice, bringing the polar bears ashore earlier. As a result, "they're starting to overlap the nesting periods of lesser snow geese," putting the bears and geese eggs in the same place, at the same time, she told LiveScience.

 

"We can't say for sure that the amount of calories in this food will compensate for lost seal hunting opportunities, but it shows that [the polar bears] are flexible and they can change their behavior,” Gormezano added.

 

Snow geese and other new prey

 

The group also has video evidence that showed the while bears have started chasing, killing and eating snow geese.

 

According to the nonprofit conservation organization Polar Bears International, polar bears traditionally rely heavily on seals and other marine mammals for food. 

 

But while the study has proven that polar bears are “flexitarians,” other scientists say that it might not be enough to save them from the debilitating effects of climate change. 

 

Steven C. Amstrup, a researcher with Polar Bears International said their adaptability might buy them a little time, if anything.

 

"Some of these things could buy some individual bears a bit more time. But the bottom line is that there is no evidence that any alternate foods will benefit polar bears at the population level," Amstrup said.

 

Global warming has slowly reduced the ice in the Arctic sea, particularly during late spring when polar bears fatten up on seal pups before moving to land.The U.S. Endangered Species Act considers polar bears threatened species, while the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists them as vulnerable. — KDM, GMA News