Post by kaima on Apr 30, 2010 20:44:38 GMT -7
Polar bears take up rock climbing to find eggs
Published: April 30th, 2010 02:27 PM
Last Modified: April 30th, 2010 02:28 PM
What will polar bears eat when (if?) the Arctic Ocean ice disappears in summer? They that make it to shore may be replacing a diet of seal meat in part with eggs, says Canada's Nunatsiaq News. Researchers are reporting sightings of polar bears raiding nests along the shore of Canada's Hudson Bay. They can even climb rock outcroppings to get at nests.
Hungry polar bears can cause extensive damage to snow goose and thick-billed murre colonies when they come ashore before the birds' eggs have hatched, said wildlife biologist Paul Smith. ...
This pillage of bird colonies appears to be a new phenomenon. That's because there have been few recorded observations of polar bears doing this until recently - and likely snow geese and murres wouldn't nest in colonies if polar bears always wiped them out, he said.
Hudson Bay is home to the world's southernmost population of polar bears, and they might give scientists clues to future adaptations of Arctic bears in a warming environment. One report has a single bear demolishing 400 nests over a couple days. Even if bird colonies survived bear raids, Smith says, eggs alone wouldn't be enough to satisfy a hungry bear during the summer feeding season.
Read more: www.adn.com/2010/04/30/1257891/polar-bears-take-up-rock-climbing.html#ixzz0me689ylz
Published: April 30th, 2010 02:27 PM
Last Modified: April 30th, 2010 02:28 PM
What will polar bears eat when (if?) the Arctic Ocean ice disappears in summer? They that make it to shore may be replacing a diet of seal meat in part with eggs, says Canada's Nunatsiaq News. Researchers are reporting sightings of polar bears raiding nests along the shore of Canada's Hudson Bay. They can even climb rock outcroppings to get at nests.
Hungry polar bears can cause extensive damage to snow goose and thick-billed murre colonies when they come ashore before the birds' eggs have hatched, said wildlife biologist Paul Smith. ...
This pillage of bird colonies appears to be a new phenomenon. That's because there have been few recorded observations of polar bears doing this until recently - and likely snow geese and murres wouldn't nest in colonies if polar bears always wiped them out, he said.
Hudson Bay is home to the world's southernmost population of polar bears, and they might give scientists clues to future adaptations of Arctic bears in a warming environment. One report has a single bear demolishing 400 nests over a couple days. Even if bird colonies survived bear raids, Smith says, eggs alone wouldn't be enough to satisfy a hungry bear during the summer feeding season.
Read more: www.adn.com/2010/04/30/1257891/polar-bears-take-up-rock-climbing.html#ixzz0me689ylz