They go into the world from their burrows between the months of February and April, with about two or three months of life; When they have ten kilos and some hair, and almost always go with their mothers: a study has documented the first steps of polar bear puppies.
Coinciding with him International Polar Bear DayJournal of Wildlife Management, publishes on Thursday the analysis of almost a decade of observations by Chamber of Polar Bears leaving their burrows in Svalbard, Norway Made by a team of researchers from Polar Bears International, the Norwegian Polar Institute, the University of Toronto and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
The idyllic images of the bears coming out of their burrows are vital for conservation: the survival of the species depends on the survival of osseznes, and the period of burrow is the most vulnerable of their life, since scientists estimate that less than 50% of the specimens reach adults.
Given the expansion of industrial activities in the Arctic, the study underlines the need to keep intact the areas in which the burrows aresince only then will the survival of the species be guaranteed: puppies depend on the period of appearance in the burrow to acclimatize to the outside environment and prepare for life outside it.
Methodology
To carry out their study, the researchers placed satellite monitoring GPS necklaces to polar bear females to record their location, temperature and activity.
Next, They were guided by the collar data to locate the burrows and deploy trap cameras at thirteen points from 2016 to 2023.
The images of the trap cameras have provided very detailed information about maternal behavior in the burrows, while the satellite necklaces have served to monitor bears for longer periods and in more remote areas.
How are polar bear puppies?
The follow -up has shown that polar bears usually give birth around the New Year, at which time the osseaders are blind, without hair and weigh only half a kilo.
They grow rapidly, feeding on their mother’s milk, which contains 31% fat, and reach 10 kilos (20 times their birth weight) when they leave the burrow in spring.
The Oseznos begin to leave their burrows between February and April of each year, although the moment varies according to the place where they live.
In some cases, the bears left the burrow for less than a minute before returning inside, while in others the exits lasted several hours.
As for the final output of the burrow, the images of the cameras indicate that the polar bears remain close to their burrows an average of 12 days. Although variations have been seen between families, which go between two and 31 days.
Maternal dependence
What has been seen that they all have in common is that they depend a lot on their mothers and rarely venture alone outside the burrow. The cameras only captured the puppies without their parents 5% of the total time observed.
In Svalbard they have been able to verify that puppies depend on their mother until two and a half years.
Polar bears mothers build their burrows under snow in remote areas of all Arctic. They usually maintain space, although some were observed by transferring their family to a new burrow.
The Polar Bears International organization promoted the declaration of the International Day of the Polar bear On February 27 to celebrate the moment when mothers and dares are about to leave their burrows throughout the Arctic, a critical period on which the survival of polar bears depends.
“This research feels the scientific basis to improve the protection of this species, reducing the possible conflicts between the burrow zones of polar bears and human activity,” concludes one of the authors, Jon Aars, of the Norwegian Polar Institute.