August M
Polar bears across the Arctic have long been seen as early victims of climate change. But new research suggests one population is responding in an unexpected way, even as ice disappears at record speed.
Scientists say the findings complicate assumptions about how warming affects wildlife.
A familiar decline
CNN reports that in regions such as Hudson Bay and Baffin Bay, polar bears have become thinner and produced fewer cubs as sea ice has shrunk.
The loss of ice limits access to seals, their main prey, and has been closely linked to poorer health.
Body condition is often one of the first indicators that environmental pressures are taking a toll on wild animal populations, researchers say.
An Arctic outlier
A study published in Scientific Reports found a different pattern in the Barents Sea, near Norway and Russia. The region has warmed faster than most of the Arctic, with temperature increases of up to 2°C per decade in some areas, according to the research team from Norway, the UK and Canada.
Despite losing sea-ice habitat more than twice as fast as other polar bear regions, bears around Svalbard appeared to be getting heavier over time.
Tracking the data
The researchers examined 1,188 body measurements from 770 adult polar bears collected between 1992 and 2019. Over that period, the number of ice-free days increased by about 100.
After an initial drop in body condition in the late 1990s, the bears became fatter and fitter during the following two decades, even as ice continued to decline.
How bears adapt
“The most likely explanation is that polar bears in Svalbard have so far been able to compensate for reduced access to sea ice by exploiting alternative foraging opportunities,” lead author Jon Aars of the Norwegian Polar Institute told CNN.
He said bears in the region have been feeding on reindeer, bird eggs, walrus carcasses and harbour seals, and spending more time on land during summer months.
Reasons for caution
Aars stressed the findings do not mean sea-ice loss is harmless. “Maintained body condition does not mean that sea-ice loss has no effect,” he said, warning that these coping mechanisms may be temporary or unique to Svalbard.
Animal biologist John Whiteman of Polar Bears International told CNN that body condition is “only one piece of the puzzle” and does not guarantee long-term population stability.
The wider picture
Researchers emphasised the study does not contradict the broader consensus that climate change poses a serious threat to polar bears. Instead, it highlights how impacts can vary across regions, at least in the short term.
Sources: CNN, Scientific Reports
