Land Mammals, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 5, 2013

Watch Live: Polar Bears Wait for Ice to Form at Hudson Bay

Every fall, thousands of polar bears gather on the southwest banks of Hudson Bay, in Canada, to wait for sea ice to form so they can hunt. Normally, only a handful of biologists, climate scientists and tourists get to see the world's southernmost population of polar bears. But now, thanks...

Dec 6, 2013

Will Grizzly-Polar Bear Hybrid Wake People Up to Changing Climate? (Op-Ed)

Jeff Nesbit was the director of public affairs for two prominent federal science agencies. This article was adapted from one that first appeared in U.S. News & World Report. Nesbit contributed the article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Science speaks most clearly for people when they can actually...

Dec 17, 2013

Lasers Could Help Protect Polar-Bear Dens from Oil Drilling

Polar-bear dens, where mama bears raise young cubs during the harsh Alaska winters, could be identified using laser technology, new research suggests. Remotely tracking dens using lidar, an advanced laser technology, can reveal 90 to 95 percent of the dens — a great improvement over past methods, a small pilot...

Jan 4, 2014

Cause of Polar Bear Knut's Death Found

The culprit of the sudden death of famed polar bear tot Knut has been found, says an international team of scientists. An exhaustive analysis shows a viral form of encephalitis, or brain swelling, led to the seizures and untimely death. After a detailed necropsy and histology that took several intense...

Jan 9, 2014

Squee! Baby Polar Bear Takes First Steps (Video)

In this ridiculously cute new video from the Toronto Zoo, a 2-month-old baby polar bear takes his first shaky steps. Weighing just 1.5 lbs. (700 g) when he was born on Nov. 9, 2013, the cub has grown to 9.7 lbs. (4.4 kg), according to the zoo. Among his other...

Jan 23, 2014

In Images: Polar Bears' Shifting Diet

Changing habitat (Image credit: Hansruedi Weyrich)As the climate has changed, polar bears have shifted their diets in response, several new papers published in 2013 showed. Melting sea ice (Image credit: Evgeny Kovalev spb | Shutterstock)Declines in sea ice have meant that polar bears in the western Hudson Bay cannot hunt...

Jan 23, 2014

Polar Bears Hunt on Land as Ice Shrinks

Polar bears have shifted to a diet of more land-based food in response to climate change and melting sea ice in the Arctic, new research finds. The results suggest that polar bears, at least in the western Hudson Bay area, may be slightly more flexible in the face of climate...

Feb 7, 2014

New Research Reveals How Polar Bears Stay Warm

(ISNS) -- A polar bear’s pelt seems simple. The white color serves as camouflage, and the dense fur acts as a fuzzy blanket, keeping the cold out and the warm in. But how the coat insulates is surprisingly complex - and the subject of some debate. One suggestion, thoroughly debunked,...

Feb 27, 2014

In Images: Polar Bears on Google Street View

Google Street View's next challenge (Image credit: Google.)Google Street View has taken viewers to the Amazon, the Galapagos, and now, the Canadian Arctic — the home of polar bears. Taking a rest (Image credit: Google.)For all their cuteness, polar bears face serious threats. Catching a glimpse (Image credit: Google.)The goal...

Feb 27, 2014

5 Weird Facts About Polar Bears

Today is International Polar Bear Day, which celebrates everyone's favorite furry beasts of the Arctic. In honor of the occasion, Live Science brings you some wacky facts about the furry beasts. 1. Males can weigh as much as a dozen men An adult male polar bear typically weighs between 775...

Feb 27, 2014

Polar Bears on Google Maps! Street View Comes to the Arctic

Google Street View has taken viewers to the Amazon, the Galapagos, and now, the Canadian Arctic — the home of polar bears. Starting today, on International Polar Bear Day (Feb. 27), people around the world will be able to see the bears in their natural habitat. The Google Maps team...

Mar 28, 2014

Polar Bear Caught on Camera with Eerie Musk Ox Horn (Photo)

In the blue light of the Russian Arctic, scientists captured a rare photo of a polar bear approaching a musk ox carcass Thursday (March 27). Joel Berger, a senior scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society and chair of wildlife biology at the University of Montana, posted the picture on Twitter...

Apr 22, 2014

Polar Bears on Thin Ice, Arctic Expedition Finds

An expedition to the islands of Svalbard, Norway, to study how rising temperatures and melting sea ice are affecting polar bears concluded Monday (April 21). Over the 10-day trek, researchers outfitted female bears with satellite tracking collars that will send back data, giving researchers a picture of how shrinking sea...

Apr 28, 2014

Amazing Photos: Polar Bear Expedition in Svalbard, Norway

Polar Bear on the Ice (Image credit: Brutus Ostling/WWF-Canon.)In April, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) and Canon photographers spent nearly two weeks on a research expedition to the islands of Arctic Norway. A former U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker ship served as their research vessel. Through aerial...

Apr 28, 2014

Polar Bear Monitoring More Crucial as Ice Dwindles (Op-Ed)

Geoff York is head of Species Conservation for WWF's Global Arctic Program. He contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. There are only rolling swells on my last morning aboard this icebreaker as I enjoy breakfast at sea — a pleasant calm after a night of...