Ice-free period in Canadian Bay has already increased by three weeks between 1970 and 2015. For the polar bears this means less time to hunt.
19 of the 20 polar bears lost weight: 0.4 to 1.7 kilograms per day and thus 8 to 36 kilograms within the three-week observation period. “We assume that more animals will starve to death in the future, especially younger polar bears and females with cubs," says Anthony Pagano, biologist at Washington State University.