Unique Polar Bear Group Possibly Found ‘Sanctuary’ in Southeast Greenland that Comes from Climate Change Effects

Scientists have recently identified a unique group of polar bears that might have found a special sort of sanctuary from the impacts of climate change in southeast Greenland.

According to a The Verge report, the said special group of bears has become genetically unique from other polar bears.

Now, the researchers are pushing to recognize the bears as their own distinctive "subpopulation," an initiative that could help keep them shielded from possible threats such as hunting and habitat loss.

Over the past ten years, the study authors examined polar bears throughout 1,800 miles of Greenland's eastern coastline in an initiative to better understand the animals' health and movements.

A Surprising Discovery

Even though that is a big range, the researchers thought they were dealing with only a single group of polar bears living up and down the coast. They were surprised by the bears.

After they put satellite tracking collars on some of the animals, the study investigators realized the bears leaving in the southeast of Greenland kept to themselves and did not venture into areas where they might bump into bears from the northeast.

Then, after they looked at genetic samples, the authors discovered that southeastern bears are actually the most genetically isolated on the planet. That means they have not interbred very much at all with bears outside of their group.

Kristin Laidre, the lead author of the new study published in the Science journal, said, "it was kind of a wholly unexpected finding."

Laidre, a professor at the University of Washington, added that they accidentally realized that they were encountering two subpopulations of a bear instead of just one.

The newly discovered beares exhibited more surprising behaviors. Specifically, the southern group had discovered a way to make a home for themselves in a site that should have been inhospitable.

Furthermore, in the fjords where they are roaming, sea ice is present just around 100 days of the year. Since these animals are hunting on sea ice, that typically would have left them with less than one-third of the year to look for food.

'Immigrant' Bears

Since the group of polar bears was discovered by accident, Laidre is not quite sure how large the population is, a related South China Morning Post report said.

She calculates that perhaps, there are several hundred that the group has likely been here for a couple of centuries.

Moreover, the band of bears has slowly grown from migrating newcomers, as well. Her study identified that at least a pair of the so-called "immigrants" are helping in keeping the population healthy by adding to the genetic pool.

Laide expressed hope to launch a new study initiative to focus on this special group of bears to understand better how many are there and how they have lived their lives.

Related information about polar bears is shown on Silversea Cruises' YouTube video below:

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