Discovered New Polar Bear Population in East Greenland

A new study published June 17 in the journal Science, shows that polar bears that live in southeastern Greenland south of Tasiilaq constitute an independent population that is separate from other polar bear populations. Thus, the number of polar bear populations in the world has increased to 20.

"Hunters from East Greenland have always known that there are polar bears along the entire coast, and we found the bears exactly where they said we should look. What is new is that these polar bears do not mix with the other polar bears in the large population in Central and Northeast Greenland", says head of the department for mammals and birds at the Greenland Institute of Natural Recourses, Fernando Ugarte to Sermitsiaq.

The population in Southeast Greenland is genetically the most distinct of the world's polar bear populations, and it seems to be adapted to the extreme conditions in Southeast Greenland, where it only has the opportunity to hunt on the sea ice for a few months of the year.

It is now up to the Greenlandic administrative authorities to decide how the newly discovered and distinctive polar bear population in Southeast Greenland is to be managed.