Polar and Grizzly Bears Mate

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The melting Arctic ice has brought polar bears and grizzly bears together and their hybrid offspring, known as "pizzlies," have been detected on Canadian islands. It is a trend that is happening with other species as well, and scientists are worried because it poses a risk to biodiversity.

The two students from the University of Alberta, flying across the Arctic ice in a helicopter, were startled by what they saw below: a white dot and a brown dot on the ice. The biologists soon realized it was a grizzly bear next to a polar bear. The sighting was on Victoria Island, 500 kilometers (313 miles) from the grizzlies' normal habitat on the Canadian mainland.

The polar bear also struck them as a little strange. It had a dark stripe on its back, its snout looked dirty, its head was noticeably larger than normal, and there was a hump behind its shoulders, which is normally found only on brown bears. The paws looked as if the animal were wearing socks. The students had discovered a strange hybrid that goes by various names: grolar bear, pizzly or Nanulak, a combination of the two Inuit words for the animals' parents: polar bear (Nanuk) and grizzly (Aklak).

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[Mnemonix]

You know the world is going to end when polar and grizzly bears mate.

Humans are the root cause for most of these things happening, though.

[None of the above]

You know the world is going to end when polar and grizzly bears mate.

Humans are the root cause for most of these things happening, though.

Let's hear from the naysayers on how this is part of some 'natural cycle'?

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

Let's hear from the naysayers on how this is part of some 'natural cycle'?

lmao natural cycle my ass I agree with Mnemonix this is a sign that the world is coming to an end!!

[Winter Summer]

Quote "It is a trend that is happening with other species as well, and scientists are worried because it poses a risk to biodiversity."

A risk to biodiversity? How? Now there are three species of bears instead of two. Biodiversity is expanding.

EVERY grizzly and EVERY polar bear will not seek each other out as mates, but a few have.

Let nature run it's course.

Edited October 3, 2012 by Winter Summer

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

Quote "It is a trend that is happening with other species as well, and scientists are worried because it poses a risk to biodiversity."

A threat to biodiversity? How? Now there are three species of bears instead of two. Biodiversity is expanding.

I agree I mean what's the worst that can happen unless these hybrid bears are weaker than the others I don't see a problem with it.

[Super-Fly]

Nah, natural cycle of things.

[sarah_444]

I knew that this has already been happening with wolves and coyotes (producing "Coywolves"). From reading the article, one of the main concerns is that the hybrids could be infertile which means that the parent species (which are already endangered) could be mating multiple times and die without passing on their genes at all.

Edited October 3, 2012 by sarah_444

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

I knew that this has already been happening with wolves and coyotes (producing "Coywolves"). From reading the article, one of the main concerns is that the hybrids could be infertile which means that the parent species (which are already endangered) could be mating multiple times and die without passing on their genes at all.

Oooohhh see I didn't know that, if that's the case then yes it could be a problem

[Bavarian Raven]

I believe "Redwolves" are the name of the coyote/wolf hybrids in the prairies...

as for polar bears and grizzles interbreeding, they both came from a common ancestor... so I dont see the big surprise.

[Ashotep]

I heard about this a couple of years ago. There was a show on TV that showed a bear that someone had killed that looked different. They found out it was a mix of polar and grizzly. They are intermixing more to find food than they have in the past.