CRITICALLY endangered polar bears have been mating with grizzly bears and the result is a new ‘pizzly bear’ hybrid.
This is according to experts who claimed to have spotted the pizzly bears in Alaska.
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It’s thought grizzlies and polar bears are struggling to cope with climate change but their hybrid is better adapted to warming.
Paleontologist Larisa DeSantis told DailyMail.com: “This new type of bear is more resilient to climate change and better suited for warmer temperatures.”
Polar bears who rely on sea ice to hunt for their blubber rich prey of seals are now having to move inland to find food because the ice is melting.
Grizzly bears are also said to be moving north because of the warming Arctic and the two bear breeds are meeting in Alaska.
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DeSantis and researcher Ansley Petherick have been studying how polar bear diets are changing in our warming world.
It’s thought polar bears have kept to a diet of fat and flesh for the past 1,000 years.
The team even examined polar bear remains from 1,000 years ago.
The ancient polar bear would have lived during a time of Medieval warming.
Tooth patterns of multiple polar skulls from different time periods showed that the bears did not eat hard food at any point.
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However, some polar bears are having to consume harder food today just to try and survive.
DeSantis said: “Polar bears are so specialized on hunting seals that they may have a harder time adapting to the warming Arctic.
“The shift to eating hard foods in a handful of bears in the 21st century is also concerning. Polar bears may be reaching a tipping point and may now be forced to consume less-preferred foods.”
The scientists also compared polar bear skulls with grizzly skulls and found a combination of their features could make a hybrid that’s better adapted to live in the modern world.
Grizzly bears are better adapted to scavenge dead prey and eat harder foods like plant tubers.
The first pizzly bear sighting is said to have been in the US in 2006.
The bears tend to be whitish brown with a snout that’s a cross between it’s two parents.
Climate change explained
Here are the basic facts…
- Scientists have lots of evidence to show that the Earth’s climate is rapidly changing due to human activity
- Climate change will result in problems like global warming, greater risk of flooding, droughts and regular heatwaves
- Each of the last three decades have been hotter than the previous one and 17 of the 18 warmest years on record have happened during the 21stcentury
- The Earth only needs to increase by a few degrees for it to spell disaster
- The oceans are already warming, polar ice and glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising and we’re seeing more extreme weather events
- In 2015, almost all of the world’s nations signed a deal called the Paris Agreement which set out ways in which they could tackle climate change and try to keep temperatures below 2C
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