The Future Of The Polar Bear, Captured In A Single Photograph

[hatrack]

Wildlife photographer Kerstin Langenberger recently captured this image of an emaciated polar bear off the shores of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.

Only few times I have seen beautifully fat mothers with beautifully fat young. Many times I have seen horribly thin bears, and those were exclusively females — like this one here," Langenberger writes in the caption of her photo.

In the Arctic, polar bears face a grim scenario due to climate change. Rising temperatures have caused sea ice to melt. This sea ice is where polar bears hunt seals. Without it, the bears have turned to other, less abundant food sources on land such as snow geese and caribou.

But "there is simply not enough to eat on land to support so many large bears," biologist Ian Stirling told the National Post.

EDIT

https://www.thedodo.com/emaciated-polar-bear-1330557679.html

[elehhhhna]

1. fuck

[hatrack]

2. Yep . . .

.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. heartbreaking. nt

[Nihil]

4. Tragic.

That photo is far more upsetting than any of the hype or photo-ops about migrants.

[progressoid]

5. Jesus.

[NickB79]

6. Some studies say polar bears could hypothetically survive on caribou and goose eggs

http://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/research-posts/polar-bears-may-survive-the-ice-melt-with-or-without-seals

But first-hand experience, like the photographer taking this shot, make me think those hypothetical scenarios are full of shit.....