New insights into dietary management of polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) and brown bears ( U. arctos )

Zoo Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles T. Robbins ◽  
Troy N. Tollefson ◽  
Karyn D. Rode ◽  
Joy A. Erlenbach ◽  
Amanda J. Ardente
Keyword(s):  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Dietary Management ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Brown Bears

Trichinella and polar bears: a limited risk for humans

2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Dupouy-Camet ◽  
P. Bourée ◽  
H. Yera
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
World War ◽  
Protected Species ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Limited Access ◽  
Human Trichinellosis

AbstractIn this review, we identified 63 cases reported since World War II of human trichinellosis linked to the consumption of parasitized polar bear (Ursus maritimus) meat. This low number contrasts to the numerous cases of human trichinellosis related to consumption of the meat of black (U. americanus) or brown bears (U. arctos). The prevalence of Trichinella infection is high in bears, but larval muscular burden is usually lower in polar bears compared to other bear species. Polar bears, therefore, seem to play a limited role in the transmission of trichinellosis to humans, as native residents living in the Arctic traditionally consume well-cooked bear meat, and travellers and foreign hunters have only limited access to this protected species due to the declining polar bear population.

scholarly journals Do Wild Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) Use Tools When Hunting Walruses (Odobenus rosmarus)?

ARCTIC ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-187
Author(s):  
Ian Stirling ◽  
Kristin L. Laidre ◽  
Erik W. Born
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
In The Wild

Since the late 1700s, reports of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) using tools (i.e., pieces of ice or stones) to kill walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) have been passed on verbally to explorers and naturalists by their Inuit guides, based on local traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) as well as accounts of direct observations or interpretations of tracks in the snow made by the Inuit hunters who reported them. To assess the possibility that polar bears may occasionally use tools to hunt walruses in the wild, we summarize 1) observations described to early explorers and naturalists by Inuit hunters about polar bears using tools, 2) more recent documentation in the literature from Inuit hunters and scientists, and 3) recent observations of a polar bear in a zoo spontaneously using tools to access a novel food source. These observations and previously published experiments on brown bears (Ursus arctos) confirm that, in captivity, polar and brown bears are both capable of conceptualizing the use of a tool to obtain a food source that would otherwise not be accessible. Based on the information from all our sources, this may occasionally also have been the case in the wild. We suggest that possible tool use by polar bears in the wild is infrequent and mainly limited to hunting walruses because of their large size, difficulty to kill, and their possession of potentially lethal weapons for both their own defense and the direct attack of a predator. 

scholarly journals Molecular Phylogeny and SNP Variation of Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus), Brown Bears (U. arctos), and Black Bears (U. americanus) Derived from Genome Sequences

2014 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Cronin ◽  
Gonzalo Rincon ◽  
Robert W. Meredith ◽  
Michael D. MacNeil ◽  
Alma Islas-Trejo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Phylogeny ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Black Bears ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Genome Sequences ◽  
Brown Bears

Relationships Between Plasma Levels of Organochlorines, Retinol and Thyroid Hormones from Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) at Svalbard

2001 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 227-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janneche Utne Skaare ◽  
Aksel Bernhoft ◽  
Øystein Wiig ◽  
Kaare R. Norum ◽  
Egil Haug ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thyroid Hormones ◽  
Plasma Levels ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Polar Bears

scholarly journals Three decades (1983–2010) of contaminant trends in East Greenland polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Part 2: Brominated flame retardants

2013 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 494-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rune Dietz ◽  
Frank F. Rigét ◽  
Christian Sonne ◽  
Erik W. Born ◽  
Thea Bechshøft ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flame Retardants ◽  
Brominated Flame Retardants ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
East Greenland

The breeding habitat of the ringed seal (Phoca hispida). The birth lair and associated structures

1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (9) ◽  
pp. 1297-1305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Smith ◽  
Ian Stirling
Keyword(s):  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Ringed Seal ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Alopex Lagopus ◽  
Phoca Hispida ◽  
Arctic Foxes ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Amundsen Gulf

The subnivean lairs of the ringed seal (Phoca hispida) were studied in the Amundsen Gulf and Prince Albert Sound areas from 1971 through 1974. The structure of several different types of lairs are described. The existence of a birth-lair complex consisting of several closely adjacent lairs appears likely. The spacial distribution of lairs and lair types found on refrozen leads and in pressure ridges is described. Lairs were more abundant in inshore ice than in offshore ice. The function of subnivean lairs appears to be to provide thermal shelter, especially for neonate seals, and protection from predation by arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) and polar bears (Ursus maritimus).

Phylogeography of Mitochondrial DNA Variation in Brown Bears and Polar Bears

2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald F. Shields ◽  
Deborah Adams ◽  
Gerald Garner ◽  
Martine Labelle ◽  
Jacy Pietsch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Dna Variation
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