Polar-grizzly update
by Lucy Martin on May 5th, 2010
A post last month described what may be only the second polar-grizzly bear confirmed in the wild.
According to a CBC report, hunter David Kuptana shot the animal on April 8th, after it scavenged unoccupied cabins and then ran toward habitations near Ulukhaktok, in Canada’s Northwest Territories.
DNA test results are back and they are also interesting. According to the experts:
This may be the first recorded second generation polar/grizzly bear hybrid found in the wild.
The official press release from the Government of NWT can be read here.
Tags: canada, environment
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I get it. So this guy is a little more grizz than Polar. One thing it shows is that a hybrid is able to produce offspring. Often hybrid animals if they can be produced at all are sterile. Mother nature has gone to some length to prevent inter-species mating success. For better or worse this is evolution in action.
A bit out there I grant you, but I wonder if this “evolution” is a result of what appears to be (depending upon whether you believe that Polar Bears are headed toward extinction given their habitat is literally melting) the possible demise of Polar Bears as we know them.
Is Mother Nature hedging her bet by “allowing” this inter-species mating to be successful? This appears to be a relatively recent phenomenon. Could it be a result of habitat destruction? Just thinking aloud here……