Scientists are concerned that this could result in more nutritionally deficient polar bears in the summer months 7 (source: Wildlife Society Bulletin, J. However, climate change is causing the sea ice to melt earlier each year which gives the polar bears less time to build up their fat reserves ready for the summer. When the sea ice melts in summer, they move to the mainland or Arctic islands.ĭuring winter, they build up their fat deposits which provide energy for them during the summer months when they cannot hunt seals. Polar bears eat most of their food in the winter when they hunt seals on the Arctic sea ice. How Climate Change is Impacting Polar Bear Attacks on Humans Stay in large groups – the majority of polar bear-human attacks involved less than 2 people.Avoid cooking in tents – when cooking in tents, smells linger for much longer.Keep your food in sealed containers – this reduces any odors that might attract polar bears (or other bears).Choose your campsite carefully – polar bears are more common near the shoreline so choose a location far from shore.
Here are some tips to avoid attracting polar bears when camping in regions they inhabit: For example, when cooking or storing food. However, if you are visiting the Arctic, you do need to be mindful of other smells that may attract them. This shouldn’t raise concern as they do not go out of their way to hunt humans and will rarely even approach you. Yes, polar bears have an excellent sense of smell that can detect prey, including humans, up to 32km (20 miles) away 6 (source: Polar Bears, S. These are usually by malnourished male polar bears and occur during summer when their fat reserves are lowest 5 (source: Wildlife Society Bulletin, J. However, polar bears are considered to be opportunistic hunters, this means they will consume anything that comes their way when their main food is scarce.Īs outlined earlier, there have been predatory attacks on humans by polar bears which have resulted in polar bears eating parts of their victims. Their diet consists of seals and other marine mammals in winter which they hunt from the sea ice.ĭuring summer, when they move to the mainland or Arctic islands, they will top up on terrestrial mammals and often berries and plants too. No, polar bears do not normally eat humans. Source: Bears: Their Biology and Management During all of the attacks by male polar bears, only 1 stopped the attack on its own accord. The study looked at the reasons why they attacked and the sex of the bears which overwhelmingly suggested male polar bears are responsible for the attacks and usually in pursuit of prey.ĭuring these attacks, 5 polar bears consumed parts of their victims. In another study that looked specifically at national parks in Canada over a 20 year period, it was found that 14 people were non-fatally injured and 6 died as a result of attacks from polar bears 4 (source: Bears: Their Biology and Management, S. However, the increase of tourism in the Arctic has likely changed the breakdown. In the late part of the 20 th century, Inuit populations accounted for the most interactions with polar bears (63%) followed by settlements of at least 50 people (18%) and industrial sites such as mines (15%) 3 (source: Arctic, G.B. The study found that nutritionally stressed adult male polar bears were the most likely to cause harm to humans. Of the 73 attacks, 63 resulted in human injuries and 20 people were killed 2 (source: Wildlife Society Bulletin, J. This includes Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and the United States. If you are in the Arctic and spot a polar bear, making loud noises such as starting an engine or shouting loudly will often be enough to deter them from approaching you 1 (source: Polar Bears in Svalbard, Norweigan Polar Institute, 2005).īetween 1870–2014, there have been a reported 73 attacks on humans by polar bears across the entire range that they occupy. Most polar bears will aim to avoid confrontation with humans. They live off a diet of seals which they hunt on the Arctic sea ice during winter.
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