Polar bears live on ice, but new conditions harm them

Atkinson first noticed bear lesions in the Kane Basin during research in the region in 2012 and 2013. He shared the images with Laidre, but didn’t yet know it was part of a trend. “We didn’t even know what to think about it,” she says.

Then, during surveys of East Greenland between 2018 and 2022, Laidre began seeing the same injuries. The reason, according to the study authors, is climate change, and they are concerned that this could become another challenge for polar bears to which they will have to adapt.

The white paws of the polar bear can barely be seen, they are covered with large blocks of snow and ice. — Polar bears have been spotted with large blocks of ice stuck to their paws. Scientists believe this could be due to changes in precipitation patterns that made the ice more prone to sticking.

Photo by Christine L. Laidre.

Hair loss and paw pain

Some of the bears had alopecia, or hair loss, on their bodies, presumably where ice pellets became entangled in their fur and pulled out. Laidre notes that this in itself is not unusual.

“Polar bears live in extreme environments where ice can form on them,” she says.

However, what made this noteworthy was the context in which most cases of alopecia occurred on bear feet. Many of the polar bear’s paws they examined had other serious wounds, including multiple bleeding ulcers. They suspect the wounds were painful because the bears sometimes flinched when the wounds were lightly touched, even though they were given a sedative.