Polar bear den study unveils never-before-seen footage

After a decade of work, a new study has revealed never-before-seen footage of polar bears and their dens.

Polar bear dens have long been difficult to study due to the bears digging them out of the snowy slopes of the Arctic. So the researchers from Polar Bears International, the Norwegian Polar Institute and the San Diego Zoo and Wildlife Association used a combination of satellite tracking collars and remote cameras to capture footage of the polar bears and their cubs in Svalbard, an island chain directly north of Norway.

“We were interested in that period when they're transitioning from the protective, insulated den environment to the world outside, because it's a big change for polar bear cubs to move from this very stable, thermally insulated den to deal with Arctic conditions,” said Louise Archer, a researcher with Polar Bears International and an author of the study.

With global warming affecting the bears’ food supply, researchers saw through the denning footage that polar bears are emerging earlier from their dens, which gives the cubs less time to develop, putting them at risk. Other recent studies have found declines in polar bear populations are directly linked to climate change.

With the rising global temperatures, polar bears, which rely on Arctic sea ice to catch seals for food, have had a harder time finding adequate food and raising their cubs. The researchers in Svalbard have noted that cub survival relates directly to the survival of the species as a whole, and that the denning stage is the most vulnerable for cubs. Polar bears are born blind, so at this stage, they are reliant on their mother to provide them with food. Emerging too early from their dens can put them at a disadvantage in their harsh habitat. 

Archer says polar bears are also being affected by increased industrialization in the Arctic. In fact, the hidden nature of polar bear dens makes them difficult to detect, even with the oil industry’s den-detection tools. The study, however, could provide a way for human industrialization to develop parallel to meeting the need for polar bears.

“We are looking to balance these two objectives through the research,” Archer said. “If we're able to get a really accurate measure on polar bear den behaviour, we are able to better understand how humans can work around their den habits and leave these dens undisturbed.”