Increased human activity leading to climate change has severely affected polar bears and they are eating each other now. Cannibalism is a long established fact with respect to polar bears. But this shows an increased trend, according to Russian polar bear expert.
Cannibalism among polar bears were earlier recorded but more cases are recorded now, said expert Ilya Mordvinisor at the Severtsov Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution, Moscow. Most of the time male bears attack female bears with cubs as they are easy targets.
The researcher said that increased cannibalism was a matter of concern. The bears use sea ice to hunt seals that swim in waters. The rising in global temperature has affected sea ice. As such, the polar bears have changed their food source for survival, Mordvintsev said.
The scientist also mentioned the Gulf of Ob that was once a hunting ground of polar bears. Now the place has broken ice all over and the polar bears are finding it hard to get their food. Researchers from Russian have also recorded polar bears moving away from their traditional hunting grounds in large numbers. They attribute this to melting of ice due to global warming. Over the last quarter-century, ice levels in Arctic fell by 40 per cent.
