What do you get when you cross a polar bear with a grizzly bear? Many have wondered but now the answer has arrived, thanks to a strange-looking bear shot last month by a hunter.
"Roger Kuptana, an Inuvialuit guide from Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, was the first to suspect it had actually happened when he proposed that a strange-looking bear shot last month by an American sports hunter might be half polar bear, half grizzly.
"Territorial officials seized the creature after noticing its white fur was scattered with brown patches and that it had the long claws and humped back of a grizzly. Now a DNA test has confirmed that it is indeed a hybrid — possibly the first documented in the wild.
"’We’ve known it’s possible, but actually most of us never thought it would happen,’ said Ian Stirling, a polar bear biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service in Edmonton."
Thinking: Can a polar hybrid be considered bipolar?
[JIMMY QUIPS: If the two bears are poles apart!]
Oo-o-o-h-
Pun therapy, first thing in the morning!
Thanks, Michelle.
I wasn’t aware that the territories of the grizzly and the polar bear overlapped very much. It would be rare that the two species would even meet.
This bear’s parents obviously had shared interests, (like, maybe a love for sashimi) that helped them overcome their differences.
Then along comes this hunter, who apparently thought, “What a fascinating looking animal. Let’s shoot it!”.
Well, you know, they only make those wildlife identification books so you can figure out what you’ve shot.
How long until this is spun into a global warming story?
I was aware that the ranges overlapped, and that polars and grizzlies were particularly related among bears, but I am supprised they could breed. They just look so different, not just in color (superficial) but in body shape. I guess horses and donkeys are about as different though. I wonder if they can determine whether the hybrid was fertile. Could there be any genetic real gene transfer between the species? What would really be interesting would be if there were some grizz genes in low concentrations in the polar bear population. If that were the case, what would the long term future of the species be when Global Warming CONTINUES to drastically affect the arctic? (ha!, Mike) Might grizzly genes become concentrated in the polar bear population like wolf genes are becoming concentrated in our NYS coyotes (or coy-wolves some like to think of them as)? Maybe that could save the wild populatin, but would mean a loss of wild polar bears as we knew them. That would then open the question of whether to leave the captive population pure, or whether to allow them to evolve alongside their wild kin.
To be more realistic, if anything involving these large, charismatic, money-loaded (from a research perspective) mammals took scientists by supprise then it must be really rare, so probably there isn’t that kind of genetic situation.
This crossbred bear is not unique nor a source of amusement according to Rupert Pilkington of Ursus International in Alberta writing in the “National Post”.
he writs that polar bears developed from grizzly or brown bears and hybdridization has tken place between the two since the polar bear adapted away from the brown.Hybrid bears can be found at the point between the range of the grizzly and the polar.It is not a common occurence but it does and has happened.
The results of this interbreeding has, as yet, no specific name and they will take on more or less the characteristic of either group depending on their individual genetic make-up.
What will happen to us if we are amused by it anyway, Charlie?
Am I the only one that’s a bit frightened by this? Grizzlies aren’t nice, and Polar Bears actively hunt people. Yeah, there’s a great combo.
Then,Jay, Big Poppa Bear will come after you!
Don’t worry, Sailorette; they aren’t impenetrable by bullets (as evidenced by the article)!
I’m shocked to see this here — a collegue of mine was the one who got the story in the first place, it’s his scoop.
Check it out: http://www.cbc.ca/north
As for global warming — come visit the North and see if you’re still scoffing about global warming and its effects on animal ranges. I live up here in the sub-Arctic, and I can tell you global warming is happening. We all know it here.
There should be snow on the ground right now — instead, my trees are getting ready to sprout leaves — two weeks early. For the third year in a row.
The polar bears are running out of hunting habitat as the ice melts up here on the Arctic Ocean. The grizzlies are going further north as the temperatures change and allow them new habitat. It was only a matter of time before they started to meet more often.
As for mating, that’s strange. Usually a grizzly and a polar will fight to the death if they meet, not mate.
And as for killing it…. what do you think the Inuit eat, veggies? All that grolar bear’s meat got eaten by community members. The American sport hunters usually just take the hide and teeth, and lots of pictures (and sometimes a roast or two). It’s a win-win relationship, according to the Inuit. (shrug)
Anyway, glad to see this here — and check out CBC North! http://www.cbc.ca/north