Grantland Tracy: Polar Bears

Polar Bear 

Ursus Maritimus

https://www.boredpanda.com/cute-baby-polar-bear-day-photography/

Description and Ecology of Organism

(top) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-135513
4/Polar-bear-reflection-crystal-clear-Arctic-ice.html

The total polar bear population is divided into 19 sub populations. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as of 2017, 60-80% of the polar bear population resides in Canada, with the rest spanning the Arctic, northern Russia, Denmark, Norway, and the United States. Most polar bears will occur at low density levels which will vary depending on their region. They are more abundant in areas that contain shallow, ice covered waters where ocean currents will bring a wide variety of species, a lot of which the polar bear can hunt as prey. Though part of the “ursus” genus, it is the only of 5 bear species considered an aquatic mammal due to the amount of time they spend in water. Polar bears can live upwards of 20-30 years. However, most polar bears only live between 15 and 18 years. Polar bears are a K-selected species. This means that they produce small litters, which for them are usually a set of twin cubs. In her lifetime, a female polar bear will only produce 1-4 litters of cubs and often times she will have a different mate for each litter. Most polar bears do not reach sexual maturity until 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mgnf6t9V

four to six years, and even then most males will not mate until they are ten. Mating is a very competitive activity, especially among male polar bears. It is not uncommon to find a male polar bear with claw marks on his face that were given to him by another male in a fight for a female polar bear. A fully mature male polar bear can weigh between 600-1200 pounds and a fully mature female can weigh between 400-700 pounds.  Polar bears have extraordinary swimming abilities and use a coat of fur that repels water and insulates heat and their layers of thick body fat to hunt in the freezing water. Studies show that 50% of a polar bears time can be spent hunting for themselves, and in the case of a female, her cubs. According to the ICUN, "Polar Bears are the most carnivorous of the extant species of bears" and "Polar Bears digest fat more efficiently than protein." Their diet consists primarily of ringed and bearded seals. However, in some areas they will hunt hooded seals, and sometimes will even pursue larger species like walrus. They are the top of the food chain in the Arctic, topped only by humans. Polar populations often tend to increase at slower rates which means they are more vulnerable to outside influences that have affects in their population size. 

http://glee.wikia.com/wiki/File:44817-SOON-polar-bear-gif-Jcdo.gif

Geographic and Population Changes

The polar bear’s main habitat is sea ice and they are native to the Arctic regions. Divided into 19 sub populations in the Arctic (see image below), their total population size is thought to be anywhere between 20,000 and 30,000. Being able to determine the exact amount of polar bears can be often difficult and expensive. This is because polar bears occur in low densities and in remote locations. Below is a map that shows the division of the 19 polar bear subpopulations:

The 19 polar bear sub populations of the Arctic
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/polar-bear

While information can be tricky to gather, the image below reveals the status of every population as of 2017 based on the information researchers have been able to gather:

• 1 population is in decline
• 2 populations are increasing 
• 7 populations are stable 
• 9 populations are data deficient.

Listing Date and Type of Listing 

Polar bears were listed as a threatened species in May 2008 under the Endangered Species Act. They were listed as threatened for several reasons, the main one being attributed to climate change-related habitat loss. The latest recovery plan was finalized January 11, 2017 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.

Cause of listing/ Main threats to its continued 

existence

https://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/22186/melting-ice-polar-bear

Scientists have observed a steep decline in polar bear population. This is a result of many things, but the key reason to date is habitat loss. The increase of greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere has resulted in the highly controversial phenomena known as global warming which is being attributed habitat shrinkage in the Artic regions. Whether a person believes that this shrinkage should be attributed to global warming, the fact remains that polar ice caps are melting which is resulting in the decline of polar bear populations.

Sea ice melting is bad for polar bears in ways that go beyond simply not having places to live and mate and hibernate. Polar bears use platforms of sea ice to hunt for food. With these platforms slowly disappearing, they are losing ways to go out into the ocean and hunt for seals. Researchers have noticed an increase of cases where polar bears come back to shore and lack the storage of fat they rely on to survive the harsh climate. Some cases have also occurred where a female polar bear with cubs is too malnourished to feed her cubs, so she and her babies die of starvation.

https://www.earthday.org/2015/10/20/hungry-hungry-polar-bears/

Other threats to their existence are tied to human interactions. With more ocean space opening up because of sea ice melting, it is likely that the number of petroleum operations in the Arctic will increase. This could be detrimental to polar bears and their habitat due to the immense damage an oil spill can do to their ecosystems. The Arctic ecosystem is incredibly vulnerable, and an oil spill would spread and have a far-reaching, devastating effect on the entire food chain. More petroleum operations would also mean new Arctic shipping routes which could have numerous negative effects on polar bears including noise pollution, incidental deaths, habitat destruction, and much more.

A less thought about threat to polar bears is disease. Compared to other bears, the presence of disease or pathogens is rare. However, the ICUN says, "...with warming Arctic temperatures, altered climate could influence  infectious disease epidemiology..." With the change in climate, it is thought that this will force certain diseases to involve in ways such as "...modification of host susceptibility; changes in pathogen evolution, transmission, and number of generations per year; host immunosuppression; shifts in main food sources; altered behaviour; and co-infections with multiple agents." If global warming continues, the possibility of polar bears coming in contact with these evolved pathogens and diseases will increase greatly and disease outbreak could become a serious threat to their species. 

Finally, I believe a major threat will also come from human ignorance when it comes to polar bear conservation. In a way, it makes sense and I do not really blame most people. Right now, polar bears

http://www.care2.com/causes/polar-bears-day.html

 are only listed as "vulnerable" so it makes sense that people should focus their efforts to other species that are at more likely to actually go extinct. However, the Arctic is a harsh and unforgiving ecosystem and the more it is damaged the harder it will be to repair because of that. Due to the complexity of their habitat, it will be harder to help polar bear populations than it would be to help other species 
elsewhere like a wolf population in Yellowstone. This is not to say that one species is more important than another. I am just saying that it is vital that serious actions are made to help the polar bears right now before their population decreases to a number that cannot be helped or managed because of their habitat. Even though they are just listed as "vulnerable," I believe they should be treated as "endangered." This way, "They're only listed as vulnerable" does not become an excuse for lack of action for their species.  

Description of Recovery Plan

The recovery plan, as detailed in the Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan by the US Fish and Wildlife Services is broken down into seven main parts:

1. Limit global atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases to levels appropriate for supporting polar bear recovery conservation, primarily by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 
2. Support international conservation efforts through the Range States relationships. 
3. Manage human-bear conflicts 
4. Collaboratively manage subsistence harvest 
5. Protect denning habitat
6. Minimize risks of contamination 
7. Conduct strategic monitoring and research

To summarize, a huge focus will be on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which is one of the leading threats to polar bears existence right now. In addition to that, they will work on overseeing direct and indirect interactions between bears and humans to make sure that both parties do not harm one another. Finally, they will continue to research and monitor bear populations to help determine the most effective way to stop population decline.

I mean who would want this to go away?
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/bears/images/35799408/title/polar-bears-photo

What can YOU do?

There are several ways to help fight against polar bear extinction. The biggest way a person can help is by doing whatever they can to help lower greenhouse gas emission. The recovery plan created by US Fish and Wildlife Services even says that as long as greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb, polar bears will continue to suffer. Ways a person can reduce the gas emissions is by doing small things in their life such as carpool more often, make sure to turn off lights you are not using, eat less meat, and recycle. By making these changes, not only will you help polar bears, but thousands of other species will benefit from them.

There are ways you can directly help polar bears too! The World Wildlife Fund has a program called Adopt-A-Polar Bear where you can symbolically “adopt a polar bear” by purchasing a basket of polar bear related merchandise (including the cutest polar bear stuffed animal a person has ever seen). Proceeds go directly to the WWF which uses the money mainly to research the most effective ways to prevent polar bear extinction.

http://mashable.com/2015/11/04/polar-bears-photos/#EWfOQrQ0vOqu

Other resources
Check out these places to learn more about the threat against polar bears!

World Wildlife Fund

Provides brief, easy to read summary of the threat against polar bears:
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/polar-bear


US Fish and Wildlife Services
Excellent place to gather a broad, in depth spectrum of information regarding the threat against polar bears:
https://www.fws.gov/alaska/fisheries/mmm/polarbear/pbmain.htm

Also! Check out the most recent conservation plan here:

https://www.fws.gov/alaska/fisheries/mmm/polarbear/pdf/PBRT_Recovery_%20Plan_Book_FINAL_signed.pdf

ICUN Red List of Threatened Species 
Gives in depth information on both the general ecology of polar bears and the threat facing them:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22823/0

Adopt-A-Polar Bear
Choose from seven "adoption kits" and symbolically adopt a polar bear with all of the proceeds going to research of polar bear conservation: 
https://gifts.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/gifts/Species-Adoptions/Polar-Bear.aspx

Bibliography

 Red List. “Polar Bears” ICUN. Accessed November 2017. http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22823/0

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. "Polar Bears." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. U.S. Department of the Interiors. Accessed November 2017 https://www.fws.gov/alaska/fisheries/mmm/polarbear/pbmain.htm

U.S. Fish and Wildlife. 2016. Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Conservation Management Plan, Final. U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Region 7, Anchorage, Alaska. 104 pp.

World Wildlife Fund. "Polar Bears." World Wildlife Fund. World Wildlife Fund. Accessed November 2017. https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/polar-bear

World Wildlife Fund. "Threats to Polar Bears." World Wildlife Fund. World Wildlife Find. Accessed November 2017. http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/wildlife/polar_bear/threats/