27 February is World Polar Bear Day, so we'd like to introduce you to our amazing Polar Bear Patrol!
As Arctic ice continues to melt, more and more polar bears spend longer periods in the summer open-water season resting along Arctic coastlines. Their powerful sense of smell attracts them to human settlements, and this brings them into conflict with the Arctic people. As apex predators, polar bears pose major threats to human lives and property.
In the coastal village of Amderma, Russia, polar bear encounters are common enough that the people have established a polar bear patrol. The villagers understand that the only way they can protect themselves from such a formidable predator is by working together. People are most concerned about the children, alerting the school the moment a bear is spotted wandering about the village. In recent years, more than 20 direct attacks on humans have been reported within the polar bear's range.
Yuri Popovich is one of the men who leads the polar bear patrol, and he says that precautions make a key difference. So far, no one in the village has been injured by a polar bear. We are helping communities to live safely alongside the Arctic's top predator. One of the ways we do so is to fund training and salaries for local people who deter polar bears from villages.
But a driving factor for the conflicts between people and polar bears is the thinning and retreat of Arctic ice, which forces them to spend more time onshore. The loss of their ice habitat has caused polar bears to be listed as endangered since May 2008. Their numbers continue to plummet. Polar bears have important roles to play in the overall health of the marine environment. Their Arctic ice habitat is melting due to climate change, which makes it difficult for them to hunt. This has led to cases of malnutrition and even starvation, and an overall decline in their population.
If we don't tackle climate change, and reverse the melting of the Arctic ice, the polar bear will no longer have a suitable living environment. We are addressing this challenge by supporting local efforts to protect people and polar bears. By reducing conflicts, monitoring polar bear populations, reducing industrial impacts in the Arctic and protecting ice areas, it is possible to help mitigate the damage that has been done so far.
You can help by taking steps to fight climate change! The main cause of melting sea ice is the warming of global temperatures, and every action you make can contribute towards reversing this trend. Though this is a large-scale problem, as long as we work together, it is always possible to make a difference. To get a glimpse into the lives of the people who live in the Arctic and their encounters with wild polar bears, read on and find out more about the Amderma polar bear patrol here.
