Polar bears and Alaska...? When did Alaska become involved in trying to place the polar bears on the endangered species list? Also, is there a place where you found this information, I need it for a school essay I am writing.

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4 months ago

Also, does anyone know when the decision will be made whether or not the polar bears will be placed on the endandered species list?

Best Answer

I don%26#039;t know the situation with polar bears in Alaska, but while there are a lot of polar bears across the north, they are feeling the effects of the shrinking polar ice cap. I don%26#039;t know where I stand on global warming - I am sure humans are having an effect on it, but there have always been periods of warming and cooling on earth. I just know what I have seen in the Arctic. Polar bears are smaller. They wander into communities more frequently looking for food. In summer the polar ice is much less than it used to be - every summer more and more of the old ice melts. As a result, polar bears have to swim farther to get to the ice, and don%26#039;t have as much hunting area. Polar bears eat seals, and the most seals are found around the ice fields. Because the area of ice is smaller and the area of open ocean larger every summer, the Arctic is heating more and more because the dark ocean absorbs heat from the sun rather than reflects it, so the melting polar ice happens faster each year. Polar bears like to be around ice, so less ice means less habitat. Or it means they have to change habitat. The polar bears around Churchill, Manitoba have changed habitat and have become very accustomed to getting food from areas where there are people - they have learned about garbage dumps and landfill sites. So the polar bears, like most species, can adapt and change. That is about what I have observed about it. I hope these thoughts are of some interest and help to you.

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That helped a lot, thank you.

Other Answers (2)

• The concern I believe, is that the ice packs, where the bears hunt and reproduce, is melting and breaking up. This limits the bears available food source and disrupts the mating season.
  Not sure if they have introduced that request yet. Probably more of a precaution, because they know the conditions will only worsen for the bears, in the coming years.
• I live in Alaska, and I%26#039;ve never seen a polar bear except in the San Diego zoo, once.