The hybrid species born from the crossing between the polar bear and the grizzly due to climate change is called the gloral bear (pizzly in English).
Have you ever heard of pizzly bears, Also known as gloral bears? These are not legendary animals, but a hybrid species that really exists, born from a cross between the polar bear and the grizzly. They may be fascinating and majestic, but scientists agree that their existence is linked to one of the most difficult challenges that the Earth is facing in recent times: the climate crisis.
Polar bears are known to live in very cold areas of the globe, but due to global warming and melting glaciers, polar bears are moving to more southerly and populated areas in search of food. Conversely, grizzly bears living in Alaska and Canada are moving north due to rising temperatures. This is how the meeting between the two species is born and from their mating originates the pizzly bear, which seems to be more suited to the constantly evolving environment.
“This new type of bear is more resistant to climate change and better suited to warmer temperatures,” explains paleontologist Larisa DeSanti.
Pizzly bears are smaller in size than polar bears, but larger than grizzlies, while their coat has a coloration that comes from the fusion of the colors of the two species.
Pizzly bears | David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities
Polar bear + grizzly bear = pizzly bear! ?BBC Two
Posted by BBC Earth on Saturday, March 24, 2018
The first pizzly bear identified in 2006
The sighting of the first grolare bear dates back to 2006, although bizarre specimens had been reported prior to this date. That year an American hunter killed a pizzly bear on Banks Island, Canada, and DNA tests later confirmed that it was a hybrid, the first documented in the wild. Previously, in 2004, two hybrid cubs were born in captivity from mating from a grizzly and a polar specimen at the Osnabrück zoo in Germany.
Since that time, at least eight other hybrids have been identified. A scientific study conducted in 2017 revealed that all of these specimens were born from the same female polar bear as a result of mating with two grizzlies.
“Grizzly bears have recently become more common on Arctic islands in the settlement region of Inuvialuit, due to the climate crisis. Over the past decade, pizzly bears have been identified within this region, sparking extensive discussion and speculation about the impact of hybridization on the parent species, ”the researchers at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary in Canada point out.
If until a decade ago gloral bears were a rarity, surely it will be easier and easier to spot this species due to climate change and it is not excluded that one day they may replace polar bears.
Source: BBC / ZME Science
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