| One of the signs of global warming and an oft quoted | | | | including packing their food in ice (to make them work |
| example is the fact that polar bears are drowning in | | | | for it), hiding food in different ways to give the bears |
| the arctic. Polar bears are at the top of the arctic food | | | | something to do. They also include more 'toys' to keep |
| chain and feed mainly on seals although they do adapt | | | | the bears busy. But even if this is better for the bears |
| to being omnivores particularly when around places of | | | | mental health genetically you need a population of at |
| human activity - like garbage dumps. | | | | least 5000 bears with a highly skilled breeding program |
| The largest of the bears a large white polar bear is a | | | | to ensure the health of the species. |
| site to behold. A polar bear will sit for hours above a | | | | Perhaps a radical solution would be to move some |
| seal's blow hole waiting for a sign of a seal at which | | | | polar bears to the antarctic. The south pole is not going |
| point it will use its huge weight to smash through the | | | | to melt anytime soon (but give mankind time to stuff it |
| ice to catch, kill and eat a seal. Polar bears are also | | | | up). The polar bears would have plenty of prey - |
| known for swimming huge distances between ice | | | | penguins, seals, birds, etc. Of course the huge risk of |
| berges and ice packs. The problem with the great melt | | | | introducing a new species to this environment is the |
| in the arctic circle it that these distances are know | | | | destruction of other species. Whilst seals would be fine |
| becoming even too great for the once mightly polar | | | | giving that polar bears haven't over hunted them up |
| bear. | | | | north penguins might be a different story - especially |
| Many would say the only solution to preventing the | | | | ones like the emporers that collect in huge groups to |
| polar bear from extinction is to breed them in captivity | | | | brood - a sitting 'duck' for a hungry polar bear. Perhaps |
| in zoos and the like. Whilst polars bear will live in zoos | | | | a solution would be to tried them on some islands near |
| this poses many problems. Use to ranging over such a | | | | the antarctic first and see how they went and |
| large area polar bears are quickly bored being locked | | | | whether other species could adapt to having a new |
| up in a small enclosure. There are numerous examples | | | | predator. |
| of bears going quite mad in zoos. I remember one in | | | | Whatever the solution with the way the arctic is going |
| Auckland zoo that spent most of the day pacing back | | | | time is running out for the polar bear (but not for |
| and forth like a prisoner. Zoos and theme parks have | | | | property developers of nice warm arctic real estate! |
| improved the way they look after their polar bears | | | | |