Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Polar bears could face extinction faster than thought, study says
Polar bears live within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic bear is classified as a vulnerable species as its habitat, Arctic ice has been melting because of the global warming. It’s a huge animal. An adult male polar bear weighs around 350–700 kg while an adult female is about half that size. Surely, they need a lot of food to live. In fact, an adult polar bear requires over 12,000 kilocalories to sustain its energy level. Their main prey is ringed and bearded seals. Time to time, those seals surface in holes in the ice to breathe or haul out on the ice to rest. These are the very rare opportunities the polar bear can hunt them. But it isn’t an easy hunting. A new study found that the success ratio is merely 2%. The maritime bear spends nearly half of its time searching its prey, and that time is getting longer as ice melts. Indeed, arctic ice is vital habitat for the polar bear and is one of the species suffering the most from global warming.
Enjoy reading and learning about the survival of this giant white bear.
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