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Learn about population counts, traditional tracking, new methods, and what projects are happening now.
Why take population counts and track polar bears? They help scientists understand how the bears are faring. Long-term studies are especially important for understanding trends and for ringing alarm bells as necessary.
Periodic capture and handling of a small portion of polar bears provides critical health and other data - much like an annual doctor visit for you and me, or a veterinary check-up for our pets.
Size estimate and health of the population
Number of bears in each age and sex class
Movement patterns of the bears and how they're responding to changes in habitat
Hunting patterns and prey selection
Changes in distance travelled
Key denning and resting areas
Home range areas
Cub and adult survival rates
Critical data on toxics, genetics, and disease occurrence
Hudson Bay Population Study
We support long-term monitoring of these polar bears, among the most affected by climate change.
Barents Sea Population Study
We're supporting work to better understand these polar bears ranging between Norway and Russia.
Burr-on-Fur
A smaller, lighter polar bear tracker opens up new possibilities.
Building a Polar Bear Pedigree
A detailed polar bear family tree tells us how genes flow and how genetic diversity may contribute to the species’ long-term survival.
Wrangel Island Polar Bear Study
This collaborative study is now on pause due to the war in Ukraine.
A small number of polar bears are tagged with tracking devices each year. This data provides information on population boundaries and habitat use that we cannot obtain any other way. Tracking data are key to answering questions around the potential impacts of an oil spill, estimating population abundance, and digging into the impacts of habitat loss or alteration. Data from the Southern Beaufort Sea population, for example, helped lead to the U.S. decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species.
Scientists in the field place satellite collars on a small number of bears each year in some regions of the Arctic. The technology lets research teams follow polar bears across the sea ice and land, even following mothers into dens. We have no other practical means of learning about polar bears in one of the most remote parts of our planet during polar night, when Arctic blizzards howl and temperatures plunge.
The collars are designed to fall off on their own in about 14 months. Interesting fact: only female bears can wear collars. A male polar bear's neck is wider than its head, so the collar just slips off!
You can follow some of the satellite-collared polar bears on our Polar Bear Tracker Map.
Tracking technology continues to improve, so scientists are developing new collar designs as well as alternative tracking methods. These include a small "Burr on Fur" design that we developed in partnership with 3M and tested with partners. It allows scientists to attach a small tracking device to a polar bear's fur. Scientists are also deploying ear tag-based transmitters on males and sub-adults and experimenting with other types of adhesive tags.
The smaller tags don't deliver as much data or last as long as collars — but they provide scientists with a way to track adult males and subadult bears for the first time, which will add to our understanding of polar bear ecology.
Aerial surveys let researchers take population counts from small aircraft. Polar Bears International helped fund studies to refine this approach because many parts of the Arctic are so remote that scientists can only make rough estimates about how many polar bears live there. In fact, of the 20 polar bear populations, 10 are classified as data-deficient.
Although capture efforts give us more detailed information on a population's health and movement patterns, aerial surveys will allow us to take a quick snapshot of how many bears there are in populations that we know little about.
Combining aerial surveys with genetic mark and recapture through biopsy dart sampling is an emerging tool that combines two less invasive methods to obtain critical population data in areas where traditional capture and handling are too costly or not supported by local communities.
“You don’t get to the end of things with just one study. We need to commit to a particular aspect of research for 10, 20, or 30 years because you need to have that duration to get a reliable result.”
Polar Bear Tracker Update: Summer 2026
Summer is the time of year when polar bears are wrapping up their biggest feasting period, having enjoyed gorging themselves on the bounty of plump spring seal pups. See what the Hudson Bay and Svalbard polar bears have been up to.
Read more
Article | 16 min | Aug 10, 2026
Why Do We Capture and Collar Polar Bears?
Good management is about knowing as much as possible in order to ensure a sustainable population.
Article | 5 min | Jun 30, 2026
Polar Bear Tracker Update: Spring 2026
Spring is the feasting season for polar bears, also known as hyperphagia, with young seal pups making for easy, blubbery prey. Read the updates of what a few bears on our Polar Bear Tracker have been up to.
Article | 10 min | Apr 15, 2026