Polar Bear Numbers In Freefall Along Western Hudson Bay, Former Stronghold Of Remaining Populations

[hatrack]

Polar bears are disappearing fast from the western part of Hudson Bay on the southern tip of the Canadian Arctic, according to a government survey. The report said there had been a dramatic decline in the of number of female bears and cubs in particular.

Researchers have flown over the region, which includes the town of Churchill, a tourist destination touted as the “polar bear capital of the world”, every five years to count the number of bears and extrapolate population trends.

During the last survey in late August and early September 2021, the results of which were released earlier this month, they spotted 194 bears and, based on that count, estimated a total population of 618, down from 842 five years earlier. Comparison with aerial survey estimates from 2011 and 2016 suggested the Western Hudson Bay population “may be decreasing in abundance”, the study said. It also revealed “significant declines in the abundance of adult female and subadult bears between 2011 and 2021”.

“The observed declines are consistent with longstanding predictions regarding the demographic effects of climate change on polar bears,” the researchers said.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/24/polar-bears-vanishing-from-polar-bear-capital-of-the-world-in-canada

[TigressDem]

1. Yikes

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Breaks my heart. I traveled to Churchill back.in 1987 to view

the Hudson Bay polar bears. They were plentiful then.

[CrispyQ]

3. Who cares?

Not humanity, that's for sure. Maybe when the last bear is gone we'll shed a tear, maybe even put up a statue, but no way we're going to interrupt out quest for profit to save some bears. Or the planet. Industry is already excited about the possibility of shipping lines over the north pole. We have some stellar individuals, but as a collective, we suck. We don't seem able to excel beyond the lowest common denominator.