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Post-Den Emergence Behavior And Den Detection Of Polar Bears (Ursus Maritimus) In Northern Alaska And The Southern Beaufort Sea, Rusty Wade Robinson
Post-Den Emergence Behavior And Den Detection Of Polar Bears (Ursus Maritimus) In Northern Alaska And The Southern Beaufort Sea, Rusty Wade Robinson
Theses and Dissertations
Pregnant polar bears (Ursus maritimus) construct maternal dens out of snow in the autumn where they give birth to and raise altricial young. In recent years, there has been a decrease in polar sea ice extent and thickness, which has led to changes in denning behavior. One such change in the southern Beaufort Sea (SBS) is that polar bears are selecting maternal den sites on land, rather than on unstable sea ice. This change, coupled with expanding petroleum exploration along Alaska's North Slope, heightens the likelihood of bear-human interactions at maternal den sites. The purpose of this research …