Polar bear tracking in the Arctic
With the help of researchers, WWF is tracking polar bears in the Arctic. Several females have been collared and we’re able to track them for about 1.5 years, until their collars fall off. Their positions are beamed from their collars via satellite to scientists.
Meet the polar bears of Svalbard
N26328
An 8-year-old female polar bear collared in Spring 2018. In November, she went into a den. If she doesn’t leave the den until April, she’s probably having cubs.
Lumi
An 11-year-old female polar bear, weighing 188kg. In October 2019 she was settled in a den which means she may have given birth to cubs. We’ll find out in Spring!
N23811
A 12-year-old female polar bear that tends to stick around the south of Svalbard where she has access to seals in the spring and alternative prey such as bird eggs in the summer.
Isdimma
An 18-year-old female polar bear, weighing 186kg. She’s been collared before, so we know quite a bit about her. She spends a lot of her time around a particular fjord. In the winter of 2019, she appeared to enter a maternity den, so she may be accompanied by new cubs.
Why collaring?
Collaring allows us to receive regular updates about how the polar bears behave in their Arctic environment and how they may be affected by climate change. Polar bears don’t hibernate during the winter months, but pregnant female bears dig dens in the snow to rest and give birth to cubs, usually in December. In March or April females and their cubs typically come out of their dens.
Our work
Tracking polar bears helps us to understand the impact that climate change and other threats are having on different polar bear populations. When fitting a bear with a collar, we obtain also important information about its health. Only female polar bears can be tracked using radio collars as male polar bears have necks that are thicker than their head, so the collars simply fall off. We’ll be collaring some new females this Spring, to continue this vital learning.