CNN released a new video today documenting the plight of polar bears, this time in Alaska past the ege of the Arctic circle.

By this time of year, polar bears have been without food for 4 or 5 months, but can’t get out to hunt the fatty seals that sustain them through the cold winter months because the sea ice has been slow to arrive. The polar bears have been fasting for so long that they are currently losing roughly 2 pounds every day.

Researchers in the arctic blame this on global warming, which they profess to have seen just within their lifetimes. The large flows of sea ice arrive later every year, and last for shorter periods than even a decade or two before.

The researchers have no doubts that the polar bear deserved to be listed as threatened this year. For evidence, they cite the emergence of cannibalism, which we discussed here before at ScienceSays. They say this is not scavenging or opportunism, which had been seen on rare occasions in the past. Instead, researchers have observed “large adult males stalking and killing other bears, actual stalking, killing and consuming other animals” which had never seen before last year, and has continued during this hard summer season.

The scientists conduct regular monitoring of the bears’ weight as an indicator of their general health, and the average bodyweight has fallen nearly 25% in the last 20 years, particularly among females, for whom weight is a bigger concern (as a major factor in their fertility.)

Whatever your opinion on the causes of global warming, the scientists who’ve spent decades monitoring polar bears in the arctic can confirm that the ice is melting, and that the polar bears are at risk. Interspecific predation of this nature, also known as cannibalism, is a terrible sign of desperation in a mammal population, and it will be painful to watch the future of the polar bear unfold if drastic actions are not taken soon.

photo from NOAA

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