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Out of all the fascinating and exotic animals in the world, one of my favorites is the polar bear. Ever since I was young, I jumped up in joy when I visited them at the zoo and I probably have about 10 stuffed animal polar bears lying around my house. I know that at times they can be very vicious animals, but there is just something about them that I find adorable and interesting. Maybe it is their fur coats which look so fluffy and warm, or maybe it's the faces of baby polar bears walking the icecaps with their mother. Yet, I still would not get closer than 10 feet from one, that is of course with a 2 inch wide and 12 foot long piece of glass in between.
About 2 months ago, one of the most acclaimed polar bears in the world passed away on March 19. His name was Knut, and he lived at the Berlin Zoo in Berlin, Germany. When he and his twin brother were born, their mother ignored both of them and did not care for them. In order to save the polar bears from starvation, a zookeeper named Thomas Dorflien adopted them and acted as their parent. That may seem crazy, but just like a human newborn, Knut drank a bottle every two hours, and Dorflein never left his side. Unfortunately, though, Knut's brother died a few days after birth.
When Knut was healthy enough and made his debut to the public, crowds went wild. Within no time, Knut had hundreds of fans who lined up every day at the zoo to visit him. Since Knut was loved by many, it came as both a great heartbreak and shock when he passed away at such an early age. A polar bear can live to about 35 years when taken care of in a zoo, so it brought about many questions when Knut just collapsed and died. Around 600 people witnessed his death, and many did not know what happened. Right before he died, his body shook a little, and then he fell over. Necropsies were done to his body afterwards, and doctors found that Knut was experiencing inflammation of the brain. A seizure caused him to fall into his pool of water, where he drowned. Although Knut was just a polar bear, he was a symbol of global warming, because if the earth keeps getting warmer, more ice will be melting in the bears' habitats, and little by little, their population will drop.
Even though we mourned for the death of one respected polar bear, the polar bears in the wild are experiencing a decline in population, and many people are not aware of it. As you know, polar bears live in places that are cold all year round such as Alaska, Greenland, parts of Russia, and Norway. All of these locations have icebergs that the polar bears live on for the most part, but because of Climate Change, icebergs are meting. As a result, sometimes polar bears have to swim more than 60 miles to find food, because one of their main food sources are seals, also live on icebergs, and as the gap between the icebergs get wider, then polar bears use a lot of energy swimming nonstop to find an iceberg with seals on it; due to over exhaustion while swimming, many are drowning, and because of the lack of food, most polar bears have lost about 15 percent of their body weight. The United States Geographical Survey even estimated that by 2050, two thirds of the polar bears will be dead. This will bring about very devastating effects for the ecosystem.
If you want to do your part in helping the polar bears, lower your carbon footprint. The less pollution and emissions we let out into the air, the better for the environment and animals on the world.
This may seem a little bizarre, but I even adopted a polar bear. Many groups such as the World Wildlife Fund and the National Wildlife Federation allow you to donate money for a specific animal, and in return you can get a stuffed animal, or something little and sweet like a photograph. Now, every time I look at the stuffed polar bear from the World Wildlife Fund, I think of more ways in which I can help protect the polar bears, and I become more aware of my and my family's carbon footprint.
Picture Credit: Sebastian Niedlich (via flickr)
Sources: "FAQ's about Polar Bears" Polar Bears International
"Polar Bear, Knut, Drowned" Discovery News April 1, 2011
"Polar bears drown as ice shelf melts" The Sunday Times December 18, 2005
"Global Warming and Polar Bears" National Wildlife Federation
