Southeast Greenlandic polar bears are unique Published 16.06.2022

Polar bears in Southeast Greenland belong to a population separated from the rest of East Greenland

A new study published on June 17 in the highly-esteemed journal Science shows that polar bears in Southeast Greenland constitute a separate population that is distinct from all other populations of polar bears.

Data from genetics, movements and observations show that this previously-undocumented population survives with limited access to sea ice — by hunting from freshwater ice that pours into the ocean from Greenland’s glaciers.

In East Greenland polar bears are distributed over the largest habitat of all the world´s polar bear populations. Previously polar bears in East Greenland were regarded as belonging to one population, ranging throughout the whole coast of East Greenland.

As part of an assessment to advise the Government of Greenland about the management and conservation of polar bears, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR) undertook the task to determine whether polar bears in East Greenland are subdivided into more than one population.

Prior to this study the southeastern parts of the East Greenland coast south of Tasiilaq, in particular, had been poorly studied because of their remoteness and challenging environmental conditions, including highly unpredictable weather, jagged mountains, fjords with little sea ice, and heavy snowfall.

The dots on the left map show the locations where samples from Greenland polar bears were collected. The new Southeast Greenland population, shown as red dots, is located between 60 and 64 degrees north. The map at the right shows the 19 current polar bear subpopulations, with colored dots showing the location of other samples used in the analysis. Credit: Laidre et al./Science

Interviews with bear hunters

In 2014-2015, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources interviewed East Greenlandic hunters to obtain their knowledge about polar bears.

During 2015-2022, GINR scientists and colleagues interviewed local hunters and surveyed all portions of the coast of East Greenland coast by tagging and biopsying polar bears, collecting information on the biology, movements, and genetics of bears from Prins Christiansund in the south as far as Kap Morris Jessup in the north. This information was combined with data collected over 35 years during various studies of polar bears on East Greenland, and with hunter’s samples from the East Greenland subsistence harvest.

The study documented that polar bears in East Greenland belong to two populations and that the newly described population occurs in Southeast Greenland between 60-64 degrees N. Southeast Greenland polar bears are the most genetically distinct polar bears in the world. In fact, the genetic analyses show that this group of bears is more different from its nearest genetic neighbor than any of the 19 previously known polar bear populations.

Three adult polar bears in Southeast Greenland in April 2015 using the sea ice during the limited time when it is available. Photo: Kristin Laidre

Different genetics

Southeast Greenland polar bears are the most genetically distinct polar bears in the world. In fact, the genetic analyses show that this group of bears is more different from its nearest genetic neighbor than any of the 19 previously known polar bear populations.

Satellite tracking of adult females between 2015-2022 shows that, unlike most other polar bears that travel far over sea ice to hunt, Southeast Greenland bears stay close to their homes. They walk on ice inside protected fjords or up mountains to reach neighboring fjords. Half of the bears that were tracked, accidentally drifted more than 200 kilometers south on sea ice floes when caught in the rapid East Greenland current, but then hopped off and walked back north to their home fjord on land on the inland ice cap.

The government can take a position on the administration

The Government of Greenland will decide on any management measures of the new findings. Currently, there is a subsistence hunt regulated by quotas to be taken by licensed local hunters.

The quota for 2022 was 69 polar bears in East Greenland, allocated to three regions: Ittoqqortoormiit in central East Greenland, Tasiilaq in SE Greenland, and Southwest Greenland, where polar bears are transported by sea ice drifting from East Greenland.

The study was led by Pinngortitalerrifik/ the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and conducted in collaboration with the University of Washington, University of Santa Cruz California, Aarhus University, Norwegian Polar Institute, the University of Oslo, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center and Wildlife Genetics International.

Funds were provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark), DANCEA Program, Danish Ministry of the Environment under Miljøstøtte til Arktis (the Northeast Greenland Environmental Study Program), and The Government of Greenland through the Strategic Environmental Plan for Northeast Greenland, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Leo Model Foundation, Vetlesen Foundation, National Aeronautics, and Space Administration, and US National Science Foundation.

Fuel depots were placed up to a year and a half in advance for refueling the helicopter in Southeast Greenland. In late March of 2015, researchers had to locate the fuel with a GPS and avalanche probes and then dig them out from under several meters of snow. Photo: Peter Hegelund.

The front page of Science, published on June 17, 2022, with the photo taken by Carsten Egevang and Kristin Laidre’s article.

Contacts: Kristin Laidre (klaidre@uw.edu) and Fernando Ugarte (feug@natur.gl), or mobile phone number: +299 52 24 01.

Read the article here: Glacial ice supports a distinct and undocumented polar bear subpopulation persisting in late 21st-century sea-ice conditions

Traditional Knowledge interview survey: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2018.00135/full