What with polar bear populations higher than they were 50 years ago and with many bears onshore during the ice-free season, a few polar bear attacks are to be expected – but how does the behaviour that drives those attacks compare with their closest evolutionary cousin, the grizzly?
I’ve done some summer reading on this topic, which I’ve summarized below. The results may surprise you.
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Comments Off on Polar bear attacks on humans – an evolutionary perspective
Posted in Evolution, Polar bear attacks
Tagged bear attack, black bear, evolution, grizzly bear, human-bear conflicts, ice-free season, polar bear attacks, predatory attacks, sea ice
Apparently, all media outlets (except Fox News) so confused the distinction between the two common names used for the ancestor of polar bears, Ursus arctos, that they got the point of a recent news story totally wrong. An Alaskan journalist explains.
Coastal brown bears from Admiralty Island, southeast Alaska (courtesy Jim Baichtal, US Forest Service, Alaska). See previous post here.
Tundra grizzly bear from the Yukon (courtesy Government of Yukon Territory). These bears also occur across the north slope of Alaska and are the bears that occasionally hybridize with polar bears this time of year, as explained here.
Comments Off on Ancestor of the polar bear by any name: grizzly vs. brown bear monikers explained
Posted in Evolution, Hybridization
Tagged ABC bears, Alaska bears, Alaska brown bear, Boone and Crockett Club, brown bear, brown bears, Fox News, grizzly, grizzly bear, hybridization, media, Medred, polar bear ancestor, polar bears, tundra grizzlies
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