Polar bears on Norwegian islands “fatter and healthier” amid ice loss

Svalbard Map [credit: theoceanadventure.com]

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It’s thought that Svalbard bears have adapted to recent ice loss by eating more land-based prey. In other parts of the Arctic circumstances may, or do, differ.
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Scientists expected the opposite, but polar bears in the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard have become fatter and healthier since the early 1990s, all while sea ice has steadily declined due to climate change, reports BBC News.

Polar bears rely on sea ice as a platform from which to hunt the seals that they rely on for blubber-rich meals. The bears’ fat reserves provide energy and insulation and allow mothers to produce rich milk for cubs.

The discovery, published in Scientific Reports, external, was particularly puzzling because of the impact of climate change in Svalbard.

During the same period that this research was carried out, global temperature rise has increased the number of ice-free days per year in the region by almost 100 – at a rate of about four days each year.

“The fatter a bear is the better it is,” explained lead researcher Dr Jon Aars from the Norwegian Polar Institute.

“And I would have expected to see a decline in body condition when the loss of sea ice has been so profound.”

Researchers weighed and measured 770 adults in Svalbard between 1992 and 2019 and found that bears had become significantly fatter.

They think that Svalbard bears have adapted to recent ice loss by eating more land-based prey, including reindeer and walruses.

Full report here.
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Image: Svalbard Map [credit: theoceanadventure.com]