Grizzly Bear Sightings Increase in Canadian Polar Bear Habitat

Grizzly bear sightings have increased in a Canadian province long considered prime polar bear habitat, setting up potentially deadly conflicts, according to a new report published in Canadian Field Naturalist. While there is no evidence that grizzly bears ever reached the Wapusk National Park area in Manitoba before 1996, there were nine sightings between 1996 and 2008. Three more grizzlies were spotted in the region last summer, researchers say. It was long believed that grizzly bears would be unable to pass through the barren region north of Hudson Bay — where food supplies are scarce — and into polar bear territory. Experts worry that grizzlies, although smaller than polar bears, will kill polar cubs. “Grizzly bears are a new guy on the scene, competition and a potential predator for the polar bears that live in this area,” said Robert F. Rockwell, a biologist with the American Museum of Natural History. The researchers did not speculate whether climate change is a factor in the northern movement of grizzlies.