With sea ice receding and polar bears forced to make do with land food, researchers are divided if the changed food pattern can sustain them on the long term without any serious implications. Polar bears have been seen to rely more on berries and bird eggs now instead of the usual fat rich seals that form its traditional meals.
Polar bears need ice sheet to hunt seals, be it the ringed or the bearded seals which have high lipid content. However, with sea ice diminishing at an alarming rate thanks to global warming, the polar bears are forced to look at other food sources. These include goose eggs and caribou calves, claims Robert Rockwell, a population biologist and ecologist at City College of New York as mentioned in The Guardian.
"I find it hard to believe they're going to get nothing out of it," Rockwell further added who has 47 years of research in the Western Hudson Bay to back his claim.
Karyn Rode, a U.S. Geological Survey research wildlife biologist too is of the opinion that the changed food habit of the polar bears is not likely to help them much in the long run. In a survey conducted by the US Geological Survey and assisted by from Polar Bears International, what has come to the fore is that there isn't enough food for the polar bears on land, claims The Hoops News.
Apart from a change in food habit, the polar bears often have to ward off competition from their brown counterparts. With almost twice the size of brown bears, polar bears also risk losing body fat faster in region with sparse food content. This also makes them vulnerable to attacks from the brown bears as well.
Steven Amstrup who heads Polar Bear International also shrugged off contradictory views of some scientists who claim the changed food habit of the polar bears will help improve their chances of survival in summer months.
Amstrup stated such claims are based on just 30 instances of confirmed sightings of polar bears feeding on land. This he said is too few to arrive at a confirmed conclusion. Amstrup also said while geese eggs found in the arctic region may be high in nutritional value but aren't available in enough quantities to sustain polar bears in the long run.