Polar bear cubs are incredibly cute — and amazingly elusive. Their mothers dig dens under the snow in remote areas. Protecting cubs is key to the species’ survival. Under half of all polar bear cubs make it to adulthood.
To help understand the act of denning — essential to the species survival — a team of scientists for the first time combined satellite tracking collars on mother bears with remote cameras aimed at the bears’ snow lairs. They observed bears near Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago that straddles the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.
The team of researchers released video footage capturing almost a decade of the small white creatures’ arctic frolics, providing a rare look at how polar bear cubs behave when emerging from their dens. The footage helped scientists better understand the timing and behavior of the cubs emergence from their dens in a Journal of Wildlife Management study.
Essential Insight to Polar Bear’s Survival
Such insight is important to help protect the animals’ habitat as industries expand into the arctic.
“Polar bear mothers are having increasing difficulties reproducing due to climate-driven changes, and are likely to face further challenges with the expansion of the human footprint in the Arctic,” Louise Archer, a research fellow at the University of Toronto, Scarborough and lead author of the report, said in a press release. “We’re excited to introduce new tools to monitor bears during this vulnerable time and to gain insight into their behavior across the Arctic, so that we can work to protect cubs and therefore the species.”
While every den told its own story, scientists analyzing the footage found some commonalities. First, cubs emerged earlier than the scientists expected, based on previous records. If this marks a trend rather than an aberration, it could have consequences for cub survival.
Read More: Scientists Identify New Polar Bear Population Uniquely Prepared for Climate Change
Polar Bear Necessities
The recording also revealed the degree to which cubs depend on their mothers. Video showed that the cubs emerged alone from their dens only 5 percent of the time. The Svalbard polar bear mothers also stuck by their offspring for an average of 2.5 years.
The scientists also noted some behaviors they deemed important but differed from animal to animal. The amount of time cubs spent outside their dens varied from minutes to hours. Some mothers also switched dens and moved their families.
Polar bears typically give birth around New Year’s Day to blind, hairless cubs weighing in at around one pound. The cubs grow to about 20 times their birthweight by spring, due to high fat content in their mother’s milk. They leave their dens between February and April, depending on location and temperature.
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Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
