Starving polar bears in the arctic are on the brink of extinction due to the loss of habitat brought by climate change. The warmer temperatures in the Arctic have also enticed grizzly bears to come to the area. Scientists have observed that the species have mated and created hybrid polar-grizzly bears that are spreading all over the region.
These new species of bears are called 'pizzly' bears, although some also call them 'grolar' bears. They are a product of two different species of bears that are driven to mate by climate change.
Climate Change Pushed Polar and Grizzly Bears to Mate
As sea ice thins, starving polar bears are forced to travel further to the south where they meet grizzly bears who are also expanding their territory northwards, according to Live Science.
The growing contact between the two bears has led to more mating and increased sightings of their hybrid offsprings, known as pizzly bears. They possess features that give them an edge to survive the warming temperatures of the Arctic region.
Paleontologist and biological sciences assistant professor Larisa DeSantis pointed out that typically hybrid animals are not better suited to their environments than their parents, but they could potentially forage for a broader range of food
She said that the diet of polar bears is in danger in a warming world. These bears only eat blubber from seals all day and have a hard time adapting to the rising temperatures in the Arctic. Therefore, it is not looking good for the survival of polar bears.
DeSantis added that saber-toothed cats who have specialized diets went extinct when their food sources went away, News18 reported. This scenario will most likely also happen to polar bears with some studies suggesting that they could be wiped out by the end of the century due to climate change.
Due to that, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed polar bears as vulnerable species to extinction.
Decrease of Polar Bears Coincides With the Increase in Pizzly Bears
DeSantis said that polar bears have longer skulls to help them hunt seals but also have smaller molars because they only eat blubber all day. On the other hand, grizzly bears can eat whatever they want.
The two bear species only diverged 500,000 to 600,000 years ago, so they can produce viable offsprings. Observations on hybrid polar-grizzly bears reveal that they are fertile and even have produced offsprings.
According to the Daily Mail, these hybrid polar-grizzly bears were first seen in 2006 and have even been seen in Idaho. They have a mostly white coat but with a brownish hue and a nose that looks both like the polar bear and a grizzly bear.
Since that year, sightings of hybrid polar-grizzly bears have been seen in the territories of the Canadian Arctic in 2017 and tracked eight more prizzly bears in the region.
The study, entitled "Recent Hybridization between a Polar Bear and Grizzly Bears in the Canadian Arctic" published in the journal Biology Letters, suggests that the rise of pizzly bears coincides with the decline of polar bears. It is projected that the number of the latter will further decrease by 30% in the next 30 years.
RELATED ARTICLE : Polar Bears Could Be Extinct by 2100, Climate Change to Blame
Check out more news and information on Polar Bears and Climate Change in Science Times.
