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ysabetwordsmithSome polar bears are getting fatter despite a warming Arctic
Polar bears tell you a lot about what’s going on in the Arctic. When food is hard to find, their bodies show it fast. When hunting gets easier, they put weight back on. Less sea ice has meant thinner polar bears and fewer of them.
That’s what makes the situation near Svalbard – midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole – so unexpected. Despite ongoing sea ice loss, adult polar bears there are not in worse shape.
Many are actually heavier than they were years ago. Extra fat is not a small detail for a polar bear. It often decides whether the animal gets through the year.
This is super exciting because for years I've been reading about Alaskan polar bears starving. If this other population is getting fatter, then maybe there is hope for the species. :D
One possible explanation lies on land rather than ice. The researchers suggest that improvements in the body condition of Svalbard polar bears could be attributed to the recovery of land-based prey populations that were previously over-exploited by humans, such as reindeer and walrus.
This is worth studying further. If it pans out, then efforts to replenish terrestrial prey may help polar bears survive in other populations as well.
Polar bears tell you a lot about what’s going on in the Arctic. When food is hard to find, their bodies show it fast. When hunting gets easier, they put weight back on. Less sea ice has meant thinner polar bears and fewer of them.
That’s what makes the situation near Svalbard – midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole – so unexpected. Despite ongoing sea ice loss, adult polar bears there are not in worse shape.
Many are actually heavier than they were years ago. Extra fat is not a small detail for a polar bear. It often decides whether the animal gets through the year.
This is super exciting because for years I've been reading about Alaskan polar bears starving. If this other population is getting fatter, then maybe there is hope for the species. :D
One possible explanation lies on land rather than ice. The researchers suggest that improvements in the body condition of Svalbard polar bears could be attributed to the recovery of land-based prey populations that were previously over-exploited by humans, such as reindeer and walrus.
This is worth studying further. If it pans out, then efforts to replenish terrestrial prey may help polar bears survive in other populations as well.
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Date: 2026-02-03 02:34 am (UTC)