We all have these images in our heads of polar bears, emaciated on the pack ice, for lack of food due to the melting ice. In a study published yesterday in the journal Science, researchers identify a new population that could well be the future of the species. Several hundred animals live in a specific area of south-west Greenland, where sea ice only forms four months of the year between February and May. The rest of the year, these animals use blocks of ice descended from freshwater glaciers to hunt seals.
To achieve this result, the scientists relied on six years of studybetween 2015 and 2021. Bears were fitted with tracking devices and their DNA was taken, which showed that “this population lived separately from other polar bears for at least several hundred years“, explains Beth Shapiro, co-author of the study and geneticist at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
More chance of survival
According to the researchers, this population, which is less dependent on the sea ice to obtain food, has a better chance of survival than the others in the face of the possible melting of the Arctic sea ice in summer. But they call not to place too much hope in this study and recall that without urgent action to combat climate change, polar bears cannot be saved.