Meet a new kind of bear

Brown bears mate with polar bears in Russia and create a hybrid animal that is more resilient to climate change.

Known as “brolar bears” or “Pizzli bears”, evidence of this species has been found in the past in the United States and Canada. However, brown bears are now also being spotted in the Russian Far East, where polar bears live, leading experts to believe that hybridization may soon occur.

Brown bears are known to be more adapted to warmer temperatures than polar bears, as they do not rely as heavily on sea ice for hunting as their white relatives.

These hybrid bears have a white coat with a brownish tint and a nose that is a cross between a polar bear and a brown or grizzly bear. The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is home to the populations of the Laptev polar bear and the Chukotka-Alaska population.

Research conducted in October found that the region is home to about 60 polar bears, which are protected as part of the Bear Islands Nature Reserve.

Dr. Innokenty Okhlopkov, a biologist at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told TASS about the growing prevalence of a new bear species: “Brown bears are moving into the tundra. They were seen in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River, where polar bears live.

Brown bears were seen, for example, in the Anabar region.”

Paleontologist Larissa DeSantis of Vanderbilt University said that the polar bear and the grizzly bear had a common ancestor 500,000 to 600,000 years ago, but then they diverged: “The molars of the polar bear are smaller than those of the grizzly, but their fangs are larger. This is because they essentially eat jelly all day long, mostly fat. But in compensation, polar bears have elongated skulls that are well suited for effective seal hunting.” However, the Arctic ice sheet is dwindling, making it difficult for animals to get the food they need.

NASA confirmed this year that Arctic winter sea ice is at its tenth lowest level on record and 40 times the size of Wales: “These trends are due to warming caused by human activities such as carbon dioxide emissions which traps heat in the atmosphere and causes the temperature to rise.”

According to the Institute for Permafrost Research SBRAS, the average annual air temperature in Yakutia has increased by 1.1°C over the past 50 years. As a result of changing terrain, polar bears are known to move inland in search of more food. Brown bears go hunting further north and the two species run into each other as their habitats overlap. As a result, the bears are producing hybrid cubs, which were first seen in the wild in 2006 when a brown-spotted polar bear was killed by Arctic hunters in Canada.

Unlike polar bears, grizzly bears are well adapted to feeding on solid food such as plant tubers or scavenging carcasses when resources are scarce.

This means that brolar bears are more capable of adapting to changing diets and climates than polar bears, and may help preserve the polar gene.

However, experts have warned that because brown bears vastly outnumber their northern counterparts, they could “genetically eat polar bears.”

Studies have shown that the reduction of polar habitats also forces species to inbreed, resulting in reduced offspring fertility, and to cannibalism.

A 2020 study found that most polar bear populations are at risk of extinction by 2100 as their natural habitat – Arctic sea ice – shrinks due to global warming.

They are also at risk of poaching, including trophy hunting, and pollution.

Christina DENISYUK.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

A photo: Arterra/Universal Images Group v