Lately, a few listeners sent me links to blogs and videos suggesting that polar bears are thriving, which, some argue, is concealed by environmental groups to avoid undermining public action on climate change. This is something I’ve heard before, so I decided to do some digging. Disclaimer: I’m not a polar bear biologist, so I’m open to corrections and feedback. However, I genuinely sought out relevant information. Here is what I found.
It’s true that some polar bear populations are increasing or, more specifically, recovering. This is due to regulating previously unregulated hunting. Regulations, such as the Endangered Species Act, were implemented in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s and bear hunting, in large part, stopped in 1973. However, the conservation status of most polar bear populations is listed as data deficient. This means that we lack comprehensive knowledge of their population dynamics. What we do observe, though, is an increase in polar bear sightings and a rise in human-wildlife conflict.
This is not because there are more bears but because there is less sea ice. Their hunting tactic is not suited for terrestrial environments. They are primarily seal hunters. They hunt on the water and ice interface, only seldom catching seals in open water or on land. As a result, polar bears are being pushed toward land and hence closer to human settlements where they are taking advantage of human-facilitated food sources such as garbage bins, landfills, livestock, etc.
The rapid loss of their hunting grounds and the need for alternative food sources have negative effects. Polar bear litters consist of fewer cubs and their body condition is worse, compared to the baseline, which results in lower survival rates. Also, sows’ body conditions after cubbing season are worse compared to the times before accelerated climate warming. This results in some polar bear populations dropping in size by 20% to 40% in less than a decade.
To summarise, polar bears being on the endangered list (vulnerable and decreasing globally) has nothing to do with their numbers but rather with habitat loss. There will be a point in time when, due to climate change, they will run out of places to hunt and breed. The polar bear population is in slow decline and by 2050 it is predicted to decline by 30% globally.
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Tommy's Outdoors 
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