Earlier this year, True Activist shared the findings of a new study concerning polar bears. According to the report issued by the US Government, the polar bear population may decline by a third within the next ten years due to climate change.
Of course, such news stirred a great debate: Some scientists say the future of polar bears is exceptionally bleak while others claim that some polar bear populations are, in fact, quite stable.
If the picture above is any indication, however, it seems the future for polar bears looks grim indeed.
Wildlife photographer Kerstin Langenberger captured the shot of the emaciated polar bear off the shores of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic ocean.
She wrote in the caption of her photo:
“Only few times I have seen beautifully fat mothers with beautifully fat young. Many times I have seen horribly thin bears, and those were exclusively females — like this one here.”
Polar bears in the Arctic face a grim future due to climate change. Rising temperatures have caused sea ice to melt, and that’s where polar bears hunt seals. Without sea ice, the bears have to resort to less abundant food sources on land such as snow geese and caribou.
“There is simply not enough to eat on land to support so many bears,” biologist Ian Stirling told the National Post.
In result, many of these mammals end up going hungry.
According to The Dodo, there are about 3,000 polar bears in Svalbard, and about 20,000 to 25,000 in the world.
You can follow the wildlife photographer on Facebook and learn more on her website.
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