The Arctic’s most powerful land predators are becoming more common with brown bears at higher altitudes. This is bringing hybrid ‘brolar bears’ to the Arctic.
A hunter in Canada’s Arctic in 2006 Shot a bearThis animal was not like the rest. DNA testing later confirmed that the animal was indeed part grizzly, and part polar bear.
Since then, the ‘pizzlies’ or ‘brolar Bears’ have been appearing more frequently in North America. Now, researchers in Siberia are looking into them. WarningSimilar events could occur elsewhere in the icy northern.
“Brown bears move into the tundra,” Brown bears have been observed in the Kolyma River lower reaches where polar bears live,” Innokentiy OKhlopkov, a scientist at the Siberian branch of The Russian Academy of Sciences. SubmittedTASS is a Russian news agency.
“Brown bears can be seen, for example in the Anabar District.” [of Yakutia, Russia]. It is possible that hybrids of brown and polar bears will become common in the future.
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Polar bears, brown bears Only divergedAround 500,000 years ago, they were mated. Although rare, it is possible to have fertile offspring by mating the two.
As Climate changeThese rate events may become more frequent as brown bears move northwards and cross paths more often with polar bears. Also, melting sea-ice forces polar bears to inland, making it easier for them to meet.
Locals in Russia have already noticed the two species sharing the same areas. There are two polar bear colonies in the Yakutia region, Siberia. These bears could potentially breed with brown bears.
Some studiesPolar bears could face extinction by 2100 according to some estimates, except for a handful of individuals in the Arctic. The pure species could be extinct even faster if they interbreed with brown bears.
Although polar bear numbers are expected to fall as sea ice melts away, experts worry that any remaining individuals may see their genetics. Hybridization may cause it to be diluted.
As you read this, it is actually already happening. North American researchers discovered a brolar bear in 2010 that was a mix of a brown and hybrid bear.
Unlike polar bears, These mostly feedBrown bears eat blubber, meat and a wide variety of other foods. Brown bears will eat almost anything, so they are more likely to be able to adapt to any future environmental changes.
Although polar bears may not be as adaptable as others, new genes from brown bears may help them survive in Arctic.
If that is the case, polar bears might still exist in the coming decades, but they will never be the same.
They could one day even be able to represent A completely new species.
