Saturday, October 06, 2007

Polar Cannibalism

Studies have shown that some polar bears are becoming cannibalistic due to longer seasons without ice reducing the area they have to hunt their natural prey. Polar bears generally feed on ringed seals, most often hunted on the edge of sea ice or in the seals' lairs. Polar bear violence itself is not a new phenomenon. Polar bears are known to kill one another for dominance in society and competition in mating and feeding, but a bear killing another bear for food is very rare.

It is believed that the ultimate cause of this turn to cannibalism is global warming. Global warming shortens the seasons and reduces the amount of sea ice for the polar bears to move and find their natural prey. When they are unable to do this, they are forced to turn to hunting their own. Polar bears are currently listed as a vulnerable species, and it is speculated that global warming may lead to the end of polar bears before the end of the century.

Source:
http://animal.discovery.com/news/ap/20060612/polarbears.html

Posted by Jon Hicks (2)

4 Comments:

At 6:06 PM, Blogger PWH said...

I found this to be an interesting topic. I read over the actual article and was surprised to find that it was published in 2006. I wonder if the polar bears are consuming any other form of prey, apart from seals and other polar bears.

Posted by Kathryn DeLisle (2)

 
At 1:19 AM, Blogger PWH said...

Due to global warming, the lack of icebergs causes polar bears to be unable to move in order to reach their prey. Is it possible for them to adapt by finding other means to get to the seals or move along with them? Also, it seems like there is a lot of competition involve. This may mean that two bears of the same size would have to fight each other and the one that is stronger and kills the opponents first is the one that is going to eat. Another possibility would be to attack opponents in groups which would require less energy on the predator's part.

Posted by Vanessa Raphaël (2)

 
At 8:23 PM, Blogger PWH said...

Its sad that polar bears are turning to their own in the struggle for survival. Is this a widespread practice of polar bears or is this isolated only to certain "high stress" times of year when the ice cover is low due to global warming?

Posted by Doug Zelisko (2)

 
At 5:14 PM, Blogger PWH said...

This is a very interesting article. Its sad to too see that polar bears attacking each other. I am wondering just like the other posts if its just during the high stress times when food is hard to come by and competition is heavy? Also do you know if any other animals who are not cannibals who turn to cannibalism when food is hard to come by.

Posted by: Balkrishna Gantyala (2)

 

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