April 08, 2019

Reducing Polar Bear Attacks

Listen Later

2 minutes

The increasing reduction of sea ice in the Arctic is changing the behavior of polar bears. Because they are spending more time on land, they are interacting with people much more frequently, occasionally with deadly results.

A study, published in 2017, looked at 144 years’ worth of polar bear

attacks on humans in the Arctic. Between

1960 and 2009, there were a reported 47 attacks by polar bears on people –

between 7 and 12 per decade. Between

2010 and 2014, as sea ice reached record lows, there were 15 attacks, a record

for a four-year period. Since 2000, 88%

of attacks have occurred between July and December, when sea ice is at its

lowest level of the year.

Last July, a young male polar bear attacked and killed a man who was

berry picking with his children. A month

later, a mother polar bear attacked and killed an Inuit hunter and injured two

others. This was the first known fatal

attack by a mother polar bear.

As a result, Inuit communities in the Nunavut region are asking for

higher legal polar bear harvest quotas, arguing that bear populations have

increased to a dangerous level.

These recent human fatalities have also provided an impetus for

developing new non-lethal conflict-resolution tools than can be used in

northern communities before more people as well as bears are killed.

There are now polar bear patrol teams tasked with driving bears away

from settlements. There is a bear hotline

and electric fencing around sled dog compounds.

The changing face of the Arctic is creating growing stress on the

polar bear population and on the people who make their home in that region.

**********

Web Links

As Polar Bear Attacks Increase in Warming Arctic, a Search for Solutions

Photo, posted September 28, 2015, courtesy of Anita Ritenour via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

...more

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Earth Wise

By Randy Simon

4.7

1515 ratings

April 08, 2019

Reducing Polar Bear Attacks

Listen Later

2 minutes

The increasing reduction of sea ice in the Arctic is changing the behavior of polar bears. Because they are spending more time on land, they are interacting with people much more frequently, occasionally with deadly results.

A study, published in 2017, looked at 144 years’ worth of polar bear

attacks on humans in the Arctic. Between

1960 and 2009, there were a reported 47 attacks by polar bears on people –

between 7 and 12 per decade. Between

2010 and 2014, as sea ice reached record lows, there were 15 attacks, a record

for a four-year period. Since 2000, 88%

of attacks have occurred between July and December, when sea ice is at its

lowest level of the year.

Last July, a young male polar bear attacked and killed a man who was

berry picking with his children. A month

later, a mother polar bear attacked and killed an Inuit hunter and injured two

others. This was the first known fatal

attack by a mother polar bear.

As a result, Inuit communities in the Nunavut region are asking for

higher legal polar bear harvest quotas, arguing that bear populations have

increased to a dangerous level.

These recent human fatalities have also provided an impetus for

developing new non-lethal conflict-resolution tools than can be used in

northern communities before more people as well as bears are killed.

There are now polar bear patrol teams tasked with driving bears away

from settlements. There is a bear hotline

and electric fencing around sled dog compounds.

The changing face of the Arctic is creating growing stress on the

polar bear population and on the people who make their home in that region.

**********

Web Links

As Polar Bear Attacks Increase in Warming Arctic, a Search for Solutions

Photo, posted September 28, 2015, courtesy of Anita Ritenour via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

...more