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In brief
News from the Arctic (2023.03)
© NASA / Thomas W. Johansen
Newly documented subpopulation could offer a glimpse of the species’ future
SOUTHEAST GREENLAND POLAR BEARS
It is widely agreed that by melting the sea ice platform that polar bears rely on to hunt seals, the climate crisis is threatening their survival. But according to a recent study published in Science, researchers have identified a small, previously unknown subpopulation of about 300 polar bears in Southeast Greenland that seems to be thriving despite limited access to sea ice. Unlike most other groups, these bears hunt from fresh-water ice that flows into the ocean from glaciers.
One scientist has described this unique group of bears as “the most genetically isolated population” anywhere on Earth. The subpopulation has been living separately from others for at least a few hundred years, likely because of geography: they are boxed in by mountain peaks and the Greenland Ice Sheet to the west, the Denmark Strait to the east, and the East Greenland coastal current offshore.
Studying the subpopulation could help scientists shed light on the species’ ability to survive as the Arctic continues to warm. Although the discovery could be good news for polar bears elsewhere in the Arctic, the scientists involved in the study say it’s too early for optimism because the glacier ice that seems to be enabling the Southeast Greenland subpopulation to survive is not available in many parts of the Arctic.
Figuring out where polar bears go after detention
HUMAN-BEAR CONFLICT IN CANADA
A group of scientists tracking where polar bears go after being released from a holding facility in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada has concluded that temporary detention is effective at preventing future conflicts between bears and humans. The scientists also determined that bears with a high likelihood of returning to communities should be held longer.
A key goal of the study was to reduce conflicts between bears and humans—which can be dangerous for both—by better understanding how management decisions affect the bears’ behaviour.
Manitoba’s Polar Bear Alert Program uses various strategies to reduce conflicts. One is to capture bears that have come into conflict with people, hold them, and eventually relocate them away from Churchill. To find out what bears choose to do after being released, the researchers used ear-tag satellite transmitters and compared the released bears’ movements to those of adult females with no history of conflict. They found that the released bears travelled 89 kilometres further north than bears that had not been held. They also found that bears released later in the normal migratory period were less likely to re-enter a community.
© U.S. Geological Survey / public domain
Climate crisis impacts on polar bears overlooked
ALASKA DRILLING PROJECT
A controversial oil-drilling project on the Alaskan North Slope—known as the Willow project—is facing legal challenges in part because of its potential impact on polar bears.
Earlier in 2023, the US government approved the ConocoPhillips venture despite legal challenges launched by environmental and Indigenous groups.
Before the approval, the US Fish and Wildlife Service had assessed the possible impacts to polar bears—including noise pollution, oil spills and encounters with humans—and concluded that over the massive project’s three-decade span, four bears might be hazed (hit with projectiles) to scare them away from people, and zero would be killed.
But the environmental groups argued that the assessment ignored the fact that the project will intensify the climate crisis, which is the bears’ most existential threat. For example, one lawsuit argued that a “drilling-as-usual” approach could cause the bears to become locally extinct within 30 years and entirely extinct by the end of the century. Another argued that the estimate of zero bears dying is likely inaccurate. Public objections to the project have shown up on social media with the hashtag #StopWillow.
In mid-September, the US government announced that it would prohibit drilling in 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve and cancel all leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Oil production for the Willow project is slated to begin in 2029. The area where the project is planned is estimated to hold up to 600 million barrels of oil. The US government’s own environmental analysis concluded that the project would generate 9.2 million metric tons of carbon pollution per year.
Collecting SMART data about polar bears
COMMUNITY-BASED MONITORING
The Nunavut Wildlife Management Board started the Community-Based Monitoring Network in 2012 so it could work with Inuit hunters to record their travel routes, wildlife observations and harvests. The idea was to gather the data needed to address concerns related to wildlife management, conservation and Inuit harvesting rights.
Now, the network is tapping into the power of the SMART partnership to enable participating Inuit harvesters to collect data about Arctic species, such as polar bears. SMART is a conservation area management platform that allows conservationists to collect, visualize, store, analyze, report and act on a wide range of data. It was developed in 2011 by nine conservation organizations, including WWF.
SMART is cost-effective, easy to use and compatible with almost any mobile device. Icons that use Inuktitut, the language of Inuit, have been added to the app to make it more accessible for participating Inuit hunters.
Because the data are so easy to access and analyze once in the SMART platform, they can be readily applied in a variety of wildlife management initiatives by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, its co-management partners, and communities.
By WWF Global Arctic Programme
