Video of starving polar bear goes viral
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The reading
A video of a starving and emaciated polar bear collapsing in Canada's wilderness has gone viral on the Internet. The video shows the bear in search of food, wandering across land with no snow or ice. The creature is all skin and bones and is seen foraging for food in rusty waste containers. It is at times too weak to support its own body weight and has difficulty standing. Paul Nicklen, the photographer who took the video footage, stated the polar bear's plight was a clear sign of the devastating impact of climate change. He said filming the animal had been heart-wrenching. He explained his team were, "pushing through their tears and emotions while documenting this dying polar bear".
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Mr Nicklen is part of the environmental group Sea Legacy. His team was on Canada's Baffin Island to shoot a documentary on conservation. He said the bear they filmed was not old and probably died within hours. He said: "This is what starvation looks like. The muscles atrophy. No energy. It's a slow, painful death." He blamed the bear's sad plight on global warming. He said: "As temperatures rise and sea ice melts, polar bears lose access to the main staple of their diets - seals." Climate change is the biggest threat to the world’s 26,000 polar bears. The video explains that bears are, "starving, and running out of energy" and are "forced to wander into human settlements for any source of food."
Sources:
- https://www.theguardian.com /environment/2017/dec/08/starving-polar-bear-arctic-climate-change-video
- http://montrealgazette.com /news/national/viral-video-of-starving-polar-bear-likely-the-product-of-climate-change-expert
- http://montreal.ctvnews.ca /viral-video-of-starving-polar-bear-spurs-calls-for-climate-change-action-1.3714570
