Team Work to Help the World's Polar Bears
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PBI contributed to the team's first field season and hopes to help underwrite next year's field work as well. Gormezano and Rockwell-aided by their research dog, Quinoa-successfully collected 174 samples during the spring field season (83 hair and 91 scat) and 431 during the summer season (268 hair and 163 scat). The molecular lab at the American Museum of Natural History is now in the process of analyzing them.
"The results of our first year's field work shows that the simple study design has potential for expanded use within and around the national park," says Gormezano.
Hearing and Estrus Studies
Captive polar bears offer scientists unique opportunities for research projects that aren't feasible in working with wild bears. PBI has underwritten two studies at the San Diego Zoo that have added to our understanding of polar bear biology. The first focused on the polar bear's estrus cycle, which is important in terms of reproductive success. The second study, still in progress, is mapping the polar bear's hearing range. Knowing how acutely polar bears can hear will aid scientists in setting parameters for industrial activities.
A third zoo-based study—in cooperation with the San Diego Zoo's Applied Animal Ecology Division and Lead Researcher Megan Owen—will test the polar bear's sense of smell. Again, this could have implications with wild bears in terms of human activities. Advisory Council member JoAnne Simerson has played a leadership role in training the bears for these studies.
Education
While the studies above will provide us with fact-based information that will aid in conserving the world's polar bears, PBI's educational efforts are equally important. Dr. Andrew Derocher, chair of the Polar Bear Specialist Group, believes that education is a prime component of conservation. "If people truly understand the dangers not only to polar bears but to other animals species, I think they would change their behavior," he says.
Derocher says that we need to help people grasp the issues and to mobilize them to respond in a meaningful way. "They can take very small actions like conserving gas in their vehicles or shutting off lights or turning down the thermostat. Longer term, we really need new technologies that will lessen the impact that we have on a global scale."
Eventually, he thinks, government and industry will need to play a role in developing reasonable alternatives to fossil fuels, although change will probably have to come from the bottom up rather than the top down, with citizens contacting their governments to request change.
"The results of our first year's field work shows that the simple study design has potential for expanded use within and around the national park," says Gormezano.
Hearing and Estrus Studies
Captive polar bears offer scientists unique opportunities for research projects that aren't feasible in working with wild bears. PBI has underwritten two studies at the San Diego Zoo that have added to our understanding of polar bear biology. The first focused on the polar bear's estrus cycle, which is important in terms of reproductive success. The second study, still in progress, is mapping the polar bear's hearing range. Knowing how acutely polar bears can hear will aid scientists in setting parameters for industrial activities.
A third zoo-based study—in cooperation with the San Diego Zoo's Applied Animal Ecology Division and Lead Researcher Megan Owen—will test the polar bear's sense of smell. Again, this could have implications with wild bears in terms of human activities. Advisory Council member JoAnne Simerson has played a leadership role in training the bears for these studies.
Education
While the studies above will provide us with fact-based information that will aid in conserving the world's polar bears, PBI's educational efforts are equally important. Dr. Andrew Derocher, chair of the Polar Bear Specialist Group, believes that education is a prime component of conservation. "If people truly understand the dangers not only to polar bears but to other animals species, I think they would change their behavior," he says.
Derocher says that we need to help people grasp the issues and to mobilize them to respond in a meaningful way. "They can take very small actions like conserving gas in their vehicles or shutting off lights or turning down the thermostat. Longer term, we really need new technologies that will lessen the impact that we have on a global scale."
Eventually, he thinks, government and industry will need to play a role in developing reasonable alternatives to fossil fuels, although change will probably have to come from the bottom up rather than the top down, with citizens contacting their governments to request change.