PBI-Supported Research
PBI Cited for Support of Research Projects
At the July, 2009 meeting of the IUCN/Polar Bear Specialist Group, delegates cited PBI's leadership role in polar bear conservation, with over 70% of the research initiatives in North American supported by our organization. More...
A Day in the Life Of a Field Biologist
Editor's Note: Have you ever wondered what it's like to work with polar bears in the Arctic? The following report by biologist Mike Lockhart offers a window into the daily routines—and challenges—of a PBI field researcher working in one of the harshest environments on Earth. More...
Dispatches from the North Slope: Maternal Den Study
Editor's Note: As human activities increase in the Arctic and the sea ice shrinks, it has become vitally important to understand polar bear behavior at maternity dens so that managers may set guidelines to prevent disturbances. More...
Polar Bear Condition Score Card
Lay people from tourists to hunters and villagers will be able to report on the condition of any polar bears they encounter thanks to a new standardized condition score card developed by PBI Advisory Council members Diana Weinhardt and Geoff York, with drawings by Alaskan artist and wildlife photographer Doug Lindstrand. More...
Scented Trail
How do polar bears manage to find mates in the vast expanses of the Arctic? A new, PBI-funded study led by scientist Megan Owen of the San Diego Zoo will help unravel that question and give biologists a better understanding of the polar bear's breeding process. More...
The Grrrr in the Growl
By Ann E. Bowles and Megan Owen. Knowing at what ranges polar bears can hear and communicate with each other is important in terms of protecting the bears from industrial disturbances. More...
The Polar Population Project
Given the sense of urgency related to Arctic climate change and how it affects polar bears, PBI has launched a major new initiative called the Polar Population Project, or Tri-P, based on the three "Ps" in its name. More...
Southern Beaufort Sea Census
PBI has assisted in funding a census of the Southern Beaufort Sea population of polar bears for the past three years. Dr. More...
Aerial Surveys
PBI has underwritten various initiatives over the years to help scientists better understand polar bears. Dr. Steven C. Amstrup says that there is “a burning research need” to determine the accuracy of aerial counts. More...
Chukchi Sea
Polar bear scientist Scott Schliebe of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service says that baseline data on the Chukchi Sea polar bear population—which is shared by the U.S. More...
Whisker Pattern Study
PBI has supported Dr. Jane Waterman's behavioral research in the Churchill area for the past five years. During that time, she completed a groundbreaking study on the effects of ecotourism on the region's polar bears. More...
Wrangel Island
Since 1995, Polar Bears International has provided annual funding to allow research to continue on Wrangel Island in Russia's High Arctic. The island is well known for its large concentrations of polar bears and supports the highest density of polar bear dens in the world. More...
Western Hudson Bay
Dr. Nick Lunn of the Canadian Wildlife Service says that the Western Hudson Bay polar bear population lives near the southern limit of the distribution of the species. More...
Hearing & 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. More...
Team Work to Help the World's Polar Bears
Recent news about retreating ice in the Arctic and how it affects polar bears has been described as the “canary in the coal mine” in terms of climate change. More...
Nutrition Handbook
Thanks to a series of workshops funded by PBI, a comprehensive manual on the nutritional needs of captive polar bears is now available free of charge on the PBI Web site. More...
Human Impact Study
Polar Bears and People On a cold fall day, a female polar bear calmly nurses her cubs as cameras whir and visitors talk in hushed tones. More...
Shepherdson Steryotypic Behavior Study
Polar bears typically experience more problems with confinement than most other animals. Captive polar bears are well known for exhibiting repetitive behavior such as pacing back and forth, particularly when housed in substandard, sensory-deprived exhibits. More...
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Maternal Den Study
Editor's Note: National Geographic photographer Daniel J. Cox took part in a Maternal Den Mapping Project in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) this summer, working alongside George Durner of the U.S. More...
Beaufort Sea Census
PBI has assisted in funding a major polar bear population study in the Southern Beaufort Sea, an icy territory that spans far northwestern Canada through northern Alaska. More...