• Question: Are polar bears in danger?

    Asked by Libster to Áine, Ciarán, Eoin, Lydia, Victoria on 20 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Lydia Bach

      Lydia Bach answered on 20 Nov 2014:

      Hello,

      overall, in many areas we don;t know what is happening to polar bears, because we haven’t done the research there yet.
      But overall we think many populations are in danger. In some areas in Alaska for example their numbers have been declining by over 40% in the last 10 years. That was particularly because younger polar bears haven’t been surviving as much as older ones.

      Scientists think that is because their prey, seals, were much less common and abundant in the past few years. Polar bears also need sea ice to hunt, but because of climate change there is less sea ice and it is is melting earlier. With less food, their health declines and survival rates go down even more.
      Other dangers to polar bears come from pollution. Chemicals like POPs (which stands for persistent organic pollutants) affect their body functions, including the hormones and vitamins they polar bears produce. That has a negative impact on biological functions, including growth, reproduction, and the ability to fight off diseases.

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