Brown bear and polar bears breed hybrids due to global warming

Changes in the planet’s climate are causing repercussions for nature and animals, which are increasingly affected by their habitats. As reported by the Russian agency TASS, the recent geographic approximation in Russia between polar bears and grizzly bears is an example of these results. Due to closer contact in the same environment, two different species are more likely to mate with each other, resulting in a hybrid: pizzlies, also known as grolar bears.

Studies show that the melting Arctic ice sheet, which polar bears use to hunt seals, their main food, is forcing them to explore new territories further inland where they live. At the same time, with the warming of previously uninhabitable regions, grizzly bears explore regions further north of the planet, causing the habitats of the two species to overlap.

In the Far East of Russia, where polar bears live, scientists drew attention to the existence of brown bears. They believe this sharing will make hybridization more frequent in the near future.

Research carried out in October showed that 60 polar bears live in the area, which is protected under the Bear Islands Nature Reserve.

Scientist Innokentiy Okhlopkov from the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) told TASS, “The brown bears are moving towards the tundra. They were seen in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River, where the polar bears live.”

Two species x one hybrid

Polar bears are considered the largest land predators on the planet and survive on a specific fat-based diet. Pardos, on the other hand, is more flexible: it is adapted to eat hard foods such as tubers or to forage on carcasses when resources are limited.

Now, hybrid species bring polar and grizzly bears in common in a single animal. This would, in theory, make it easier for animals to survive in the face of climate change. However, experts have warned that the adaptive traits of grizzly bears could cause them to genetically “eat polar bears” and contribute to the extinction of the species, according to the British tabloid Daily Mail.

previous records

Scientists first noticed this species in nature in 2006. Canadian scientists studied a polar bear with unusual features that had been shot by hunters. Its fur had brown spots and its mouth had a different anatomy. According to Tass, DNA tests showed it was actually a hybrid species between a polar bear and a grizzly bear.

Another bear was killed in the same polar region of Canada in 2010. This time it was concluded that the animal was the result of a cross between a hybrid mother and a brown father – indicating the existence of other hybrid specimens.

Since then, climate change has intensified on the planet – a topic discussed at COP 27 this week. Decreased habitat as Arctic sea ice melts.