Heart-Wrenching Video Shows Starving Polar Bear on Iceless Land

[Saya]

When photographer Paul Nicklen and filmmakers from conservation group Sea Legacy arrived in the Baffin Islands, they came across a heartbreaking sight: a starving polar bear on its deathbed.

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In the days since Nicklen posted the footage, he's been asked why he didn't intervene.

"Of course, that crossed my mind," said Nicklen. "But it's not like I walk around with a tranquilizer gun or 400 pounds of seal meat."

And even if he did, said Nicklen, he only would have been prolonging the bear's misery. Plus, feeding wild polar bears is illegal in Canada.

The wildlife photographer says he filmed the bear's slow, beleaguered death because he didn't want it to die in vain.

"When scientists say bears are going extinct, I want people to realize what it looks like. Bears are going to starve to death," said Nicklen. "This is what a starving bear looks like."

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THE CLIMATE CHANGE LINK

By telling the story of one polar bear, Nicklen hopes to convey a larger message about how a warming climate has deadly consequences.

Polar bears have long been unwitting mascots for the effects of climate change. As animals that live only in Arctic regions, they're often the first to feel the impacts of warming temperatures and rising seas.

The large, half-ton bears find concentrations of seals on sea ice. During summer months, it's not uncommon for polar bears to go months without eating while they wait for Arctic ice to solidify.

In 2002, a World Wildlife Fund report predicted that climate change could eventually lead to polar bear endangerment or extinction. Even then, the report found that polar bears were moving from ice to land earlier and staying on land longer, unhealthily extending the bears' fasting season. By the end of summer, most bears studied by the World Wildlife Fund showed signs of starvation.

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Video here: National Geographic

 

[Fevaweva]

Humanity was a mistake, its nothing but trash.

But in all seriousness, that is a horrible picture and one that will become all too common in the years to come.

 

[Carfo]

really sad. what's worse is this is one of the first of many more to come

 

[Strelok]

This is a really sad picture

 

[vatstep]

I wish I had not seen that picture.

 

[Strafer]

sad to see you cant give starving animals food

thought you were cool canada

 

[Mac_Lane]

Just saw that on my Twitter feed, this broke me :(

 

[Taurus Silver]

Damn thats a sad picture.

 

[Landy828]

It may have been way past saving...but this is the sort of situation where I'd say "illegal" probably wouldn't stop me from trying. Obviously you can't go hands on with a creature like that, but maybe a little something put in his path would ease the suffering.

 

[Aaron Stack]

sad to see you cant give starving animals food

thought you were cool canada

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You know why they can't do that :p

 

[Brerlappin]

But global warming is a conspiracy manufactured by the Chinese to screw America, right guys? Right?

 

[Holograms]

It may have been way past saving...but this is the sort of situation where I'd say "illegal" probably wouldn't stop me from trying. Obviously you can't go hands on with a creature like that, but maybe a little something put in his path would ease the suffering.

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Are you being serious? He says the muscles had atrophied beyond hope of repair. Do you think this person was travelling with several kg of food? Because a granola bar would not make the bear feel better. The only thing he could have done to ease its suffering is shot it. Which is also illegal. Even a bear this weak can still be dangerous.

 

[Thisman]

the videographer sounds pretty creepy:
"I didn't want to feed it because it is so big but at same time it's dying "
"I didn't want it to die in vain so I'm just going to film it die slowly"
"These creatures are going extinct, here is a video I made of it dying slowly while I never called any animal group to do something"

 

[Auros01]

That's really sad. :(

 

[Tuck]

Wow. Such a beautiful creatures reduced to... That. An absolute shame, and we're responsible.

sad to see you cant give starving animals food

thought you were cool canada

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I'm not sure if this particular post is a joke but I've seen others post similar comments.

First, no human is going to be carrying enough food to feed that bear.

Second, feeding wild animals isn't just dangerous to the person feeding them. A fed bear will learn that humans mean food and that's very dangerous for others in the future.

I suppose he could have called an animal conservation group. But it's one bear. If you think this one bear is an outlier, you're sadly mistaken; this is going to happen more often and conservation groups can't save them all.

 

[Stuart]

I hope everyone stating this is sad considers if their own actions might help. For instance, if you eat meat on a regular basis you're a large contributor to the issue of climate change.

 

[GaijinDensetsu]

the videographer sounds pretty creepy:
"I didn't want to feed it because it is so big but at same time it's dying "
"I didn't want it to die in vain so I'm just going to film it die slowly"
"These creatures are going extinct, here is a video I made of it dying slowly while I never called any animal group to do something"

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what exactly do you want them to do? feeding the animal is not going to solve the problem that got it in this mess in the first place. there is no way to save the bear or countless others that will suffer the same fate.

 

[thisisreallife]

Wow...what a powerful photo.

 

[Jmdajr]

Baby seals are saved!

 

[tuxfool]

Wow...what a powerful photo.

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If you really want to feel like shit, you should see the video.

 

[Landy828]

Are you being serious? He says the muscles had atrophied beyond hope of repair. Do you think this person was travelling with several kg of food? Because a granola bar would not make the bear feel better. The only thing he could have done to ease its suffering is shot it. Which is also illegal. Even a bear this weak can still be dangerous.

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I basically addressed all of your points in what I said. Heh

It's sad an unfortunate there was nothing to be done.

 

[Deleted member 2802]

I hope Coca-Cola's annual polar bear CG commercial reflects this change

 

[5taquitos]

I should not have opened this thread.

 

[imbarkus]

On every celestial body we have studied in the heavens, with our limited gaze, we have found no sign of life. No sign of the unique development of the teeming biosphere we see on Earth. Even if life has developed on other world, the Fermi paradox holds true, and we hear no messages from any semblance of intelligent life. With billions of years behind us in the age of our galaxy, we are as isolated in the Great Garden of Time as we are in the vast ocean of space.

All this means that we may actually be the only intelligent stewards of life in the galaxy, at this moment. The only species with the ability to consciously decide whether to preserve each impossibly unique form of life that evolves here, and nowhere else in the galaxy, or to destroy it. Our ultimate destiny, and merit as a species, will depend on the future of our biosphere, because we are choosing that future.

There is no Interstellar, no escape for us. Our destiny here is our Judgment Day. We value this most unique precious gift in the universe, the life around us, or we kill it and die with it. And all the religious visions of Armageddon have the themes right if not the details: if fiery apocalypse comes about, we will have both chosen it and deserve it.

 

[Deleted member 2809]

But coal jerbs !

 

[red731]

I should not have opened this thread.

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We were a freakin mistake, man.
Holy shit that is heart wrenching :(

 

[Spongebob]

Polar bear populations are actually doing quite well iirc.

 

[Saya]

Polar bear populations are actually doing quite well iirc.

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Status:

Without action on climate change, scientists predict we could lose wild polar bears by 2100.

Two-thirds could be gone by 2050.

And sea ice loss from human activity is the cause.

Earlier—in the 1960s and 1970s—unregulated commercial and sport hunting was the major threat to polar bears. So much so, that in 1973 Canada, Denmark (for Greenland), Norway, the U.S., and Russia signed a landmark accord, the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, to regulate practices and conserve polar bears.

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[Deleted member 18514]

While this is a sad picture, that bear could have a cancer, be sick, or previously injured leading to it being unsuccessful at hunting. Barring an autopsy, they have no real way of knowing why it is starving (which, incidentally, is pretty much the fate of ALL wild animals that don't get caught and eaten by something else) so to attribute it to climate change alone is presumptuous. Plus polar bears are really just arctic adapted brown bears, which are in no way endangered, so even if they go extinct due to loss of an arctic habitat the brown bear will probably just expand up into the now warmer and ice-free area, though more likely the polar bears will just interbreed with brown bears and the species will collapse back into one again until such time as the arctic cools again.

 

[FeistyBoots]

Jesus

I'm normally pretty stoic, having seen and suffered some truly horrible things in my life. But scrolling down and seeing that picture struck me so hard that I literally gasped into tears of anguished disbelief at this stark reminder of what we've done.

 

[Polaroid_64]

People blaming the photographer sound very ignorant to say the least.

 

[DarthWoo]

Polar bear populations are actually doing quite well iirc.

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A lot of deniers try to claim that polar bears are fine because more are seen around human settlements lately. They refuse to see that the very reason more are seen around humans is because they're being driven away from their natural habitats and into places where they can hopefully adapt to survive.

 

[iksenpets]

Christ, that picture hit me harder than I was expecting

 

[oreomunsta]

Baby seals are saved!

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That's not very funny at all

 

[Tom Nook]

ugh :(

So sad.

 

[Grisby]

Was not prepared for that photo. Damn.

 

[Enduin]

Seeing an animal starve to death is just one of the worst things ever. I can see animals get eaten or killed by other animals and it's whatever, part of the food chain, circle of life, natural order, yada yada yada. But to see an animal just waste away, skin and bones, is heart wrenching and absolutely devastating to think about.

 

[JaseMath]

What have we done.

 

[Deleted member 10060]

I hope everyone stating this is sad considers if their own actions might help. For instance, if you eat meat on a regular basis you're a large contributor to the issue of climate change.

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Notice how no one responds to this.

 

[Spongebob]

A lot of deniers try to claim that polar bears are fine because more are seen around human settlements lately. They refuse to see that the very reason more are seen around humans is because they're being driven away from their natural habitats and into places where they can hopefully adapt to survive.

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I'm not a denier.

 

[bane833]

But global warming is a conspiracy manufactured by the Chinese to screw America, right guys? Right?

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Exactly. And this picture ist obviously fake, photoshopped by liberals.

 

[Raw64life]

Not sure why I clicked on this thread :(

If it really was impossible to save that polar bear I would've killed it and ended it's suffering.

 

[Pooh]

Amazing photo and video.... powerful, heartbreaking.

Unfortunately I think we are going to need evidence like this to convince the dumber portion of Americans that don't believe climate change is real.

 

[subrock]

I hope everyone stating this is sad considers if their own actions might help. For instance, if you eat meat on a regular basis you're a large contributor to the issue of climate change.

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Not to mention voting for cartoon villain politicians because it means you'll see an extra $700 on your tax return

 

[bane833]

Notice how no one responds to this.

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What are you supposed to respond though? We all know what should be done, eat less meat, don't have more than 2 children, no car, no flying, don't vote morons who deny climate chang etc. Yet here we are.

 

[SpaceRipperStingyEyes]

Aren't polar bears populations rebounding? I thought they were surprisingly learning ways to adapt to less ice.

 

[Deleted member 10060]

What are you supposed to respond though? We all know what should be done, eat less meat, don't have more than 2 children, no car, no flying, don't vote morons who deny climate chang etc. Yet here we are.

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The questions isn't what we should say, but rather how many people are willing to do the simplest things.

 

[maximumzero]

Humanity is so fucked. The people that care have no power to change anything and the folks in power just don't care enough to change anything.

 

[Netherscourge]

You mean to tell me there isn't a zoo somewhere in North America that couldn't rehab and save that polar bear?

Open a GoFundMe account and I guarantee you the money will be there to support it.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

You mean to tell me there isn't a zoo somewhere in North America that couldn't rehab and save that polar bear?

Open a GoFundMe account and I guarantee you the money will be there to support it.

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Probably be dead by the time a crew could get out to save it and honestly speaking they'd be better served trying to breed them in captivity than save a bear about to die.