William Atkins
Tuesday, 24 November 2009 19:52
Science -
Climate
Page 1 of 2
As grizzly bears move further into northern territories they are intermixing with polar bears, and the result is interbreeding between the two species, producing the grizzly-polar bear, or grolar bear. Scientists think that climate change may be responsible for grizzlies moving into these northern climates as they warm.
According to Australian biologist James Watson, from the University of Queensland, the changing global climate is producing a new species of bear as the habitats of the grizzly bear and the polar bear becomes intermingled.
In the ABC Online article “
Grizzlies, polar bears breeding because of climate change,” the “grolar bear,” a mix between the grizzly and the polar bear, was first discovered in 2006 after a grolar was shot and killed on Banks Island, Northwest Territories in the Canadian Arctic.
Scientists at Wildlife Genetics International, British Columbia, verified that its genetic material (DNA) is a combination of the two other bears.
Learn more about this incident at the Fox News article “
Polar bear grizzly hybrid shot in Canadian Arctic.”
Dr. Watson states,
"There's a lot of evidence now that with the climate changing, a lot of species will have range shifts which are changing in accordance with this.” [ABC Online]
He adds,
"We're seeing more and more evidence that different species are being forced together and are genetically quite similar and therefore it's not surprising that there's some inbreeding because of this."
Page two continues.
