Polar bears have become the symbol of climate change. Living in the Arctic, one of the most vulnerable areas, they are forced to travel greater and greater distances to get some prey. A dam that finds an escape route in the early thaw through which to stay alive.
But also, the increase in temperatures is changing the behavior of these majestic animals: if before it was very difficult to see them in large groups, now a gathering of 200 polar bears has alerted scientists.
With climate change and living in an increasingly warmer world polar bear populations spend more time on land and are getting closer to villages, something that can be dangerous both for humans and for the survival of the species.
After the thaw, these animals rest between August and November on the island of Wrangel, in the Chuckchi Sea (northeast of Siberia). In December they resume the seal hunt, but as hunting is an activity that gets more and more complicated, any animal that is found dead will always be better than nothing.
Polar Bear Feast Wrangel Island 2017 _ Julie Stephenson from julie stephenson on Vimeo.
Surely that was what the 200 polar bears that gathered to devour the carcass of a whale it had been washed ashore by the sea. The group consisted of several families, including two mothers each followed by four cubs. Seeing this scene, scientists who were able to witness it, including Alexandre Gruzdev, director of the Wrangel Island Nature Reserve, were stunned.
This is something that, Gruzdev explained to AFP, it is very rare to see. Although tourists can enjoy it, it is still one more consequence of climate change.