Scientists: Hungry Polar Bears Eating Food Waste to Survive
2022-07-25
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1Scientists from the U.S. and Canada say Arctic warming is reducing the food supply for polar bears.
2The animals are forced to look for food at waste sites.
3That is causing problems for both the bears and humans.
4A report on the scientists' findings recently appeared in the publication Oryx.
5Polar bears normally hunt seals.
6But a warming climate is reducing the amount of sea ice.
7The bears need sea ice in order to move around and find seals.
8With the usual food running low, the bears are coming off the ice and onto land.
9They get closer to areas where humans place waste, including bones from whale hunts and used food packages.
10The bears often end up eating the food packaging when trying to get to the food inside.
11Since their bodies cannot break down the material,
12the bears can develop blockages that can result in sickness and even death.
13In addition, people living close to the area where waste is collected sometimes shoot the bears because they fear the animals might hurt people.
14Andrew Derocher is a biologist at the University of Alberta in Canada.
15He helped write the report.
16He said, "Bears and garbage are a bad association."
17Derocher added that scientists have already seen black bears and brown bears eat food waste in other parts of the world.
18"Now," he said, "it's an issue developing with polar bears."
19The bears have been found at garbage collection places in Russia and in the American state of Alaska.
20Scientists say the problem will only get worse for the bears as more humans move into their territory.
21One area where the bears live is Nunavut, Canada.
22The human population there is expected to increase by over 40 percent by 2043.
23As more humans move in, the waste becomes more of a problem because it is hard to manage in frozen lands.
24 The ground is frozen, which means the garbage cannot be buried.
25It is costly to send the waste out on trucks.
26The scientists say more government money is needed to help the problem.
27Derocher said meetings between people and bears are increasing already.
28"It's surprising just how many places that never had polar bear problems are now having emerging issues," he said.
29I'm Dan Friedell.
1Scientists from the U.S. and Canada say Arctic warming is reducing the food supply for polar bears. The animals are forced to look for food at waste sites. That is causing problems for both the bears and humans. 2A report on the scientists' findings recently appeared in the publication Oryx. 3Polar bears normally hunt seals. But a warming climate is reducing the amount of sea ice. The bears need sea ice in order to move around and find seals. 4With the usual food running low, the bears are coming off the ice and onto land. They get closer to areas where humans place waste, including bones from whale hunts and used food packages. 5The bears often end up eating the food packaging when trying to get to the food inside. Since their bodies cannot break down the material, the bears can develop blockages that can result in sickness and even death. 6In addition, people living close to the area where waste is collected sometimes shoot the bears because they fear the animals might hurt people. 7Andrew Derocher is a biologist at the University of Alberta in Canada. He helped write the report. He said, "Bears and garbage are a bad association." Derocher added that scientists have already seen black bears and brown bears eat food waste in other parts of the world. "Now," he said, "it's an issue developing with polar bears." 8The bears have been found at garbage collection places in Russia and in the American state of Alaska. 9Scientists say the problem will only get worse for the bears as more humans move into their territory. 10One area where the bears live is Nunavut, Canada. The human population there is expected to increase by over 40 percent by 2043. 11As more humans move in, the waste becomes more of a problem because it is hard to manage in frozen lands. The ground is frozen, which means the garbage cannot be buried. It is costly to send the waste out on trucks. The scientists say more government money is needed to help the problem. 12Derocher said meetings between people and bears are increasing already. 13"It's surprising just how many places that never had polar bear problems are now having emerging issues," he said. 14I'm Dan Friedell. 15Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report from Reuters. 16_________________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18packages - n. a wrapper or container that holds something 19garbage - n. things that are no longer useful or wanted that have been thrown out 20association - n. a connection or relationship between things or people 21emerging - adj. newly created and becoming known or established 22______________________________________________________________ 23What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. 24We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 25Write your comment in the box. 26Under the box, you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter and Google. 27Click on one image and a box appears. Enter the login for your social media account. Or you may create one on the Disqus system. It is the blue circle with "D" on it. It is free. 28Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.