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Polar bears could be catching bird flu after feasting on bird carcasses infected with the mortal melodic line H5N1 . The infection could add additional and potentially annihilative pressure on an Arctic universe already under extreme stress from climate change , expert say .
The first case of apolar bear(Ursus maritimus ) dying from highly infective avian influenza ( HPAI ) was recently recorded in Alaska . Officials with the state ’s Division of Environmental Healthconfirmed the death in Decemberafter the carcass was found in the northernmost townsfolk of Utqiagvik in October . Experts consider the bear condense the virus from septic birds it was scavenging on .
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) may be at risk of bird flu as sea ice shrinks, bringing them in contact with infected birds more often.
It is probable other polar bears have been taint with birdie flu , Robert Gerlach , Alaska ’s state vet , told Live Science in an email . But how mortal respond to infection will count on their overall health .
The case was not unexpected — shameful bears ( Ursus americanus ) and brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) have antecedently been found with the deadly computer virus . However , icy bears are a vulnerable species because of the loss of their sea ice rink habitat , so any extra deaths from disease could serve another blow to the species .
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Polar bears feeding on a whale carcass near Kaktovik, by the Beaufort Sea in Alaska.
H5N1 wasfirst key out in China in 1996 , and since then outbreaks have been recorded across the planet . In 2020 , a fresh variate go forth that do an unprecedented number of deaths among birds . It spread to North America in 2021 .
Numerous mammalshave also been impacted by the virus , run to thousands of deaths worldwide .
The wider significance of the polar bear face is unclear . A individual death is n’t necessarily relevant from a preservation perspective , Douglas A. Clark , associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan ’s School of Environment and Sustainability , told Live Science in an email .
However , it shows the species is vulnerable . " This is unlikely to be an isolated outcome — it ’s just that this one lead to an outcome that was detected , " he said .
Monitoring for the virus among polar bear is hard due to the landscape they live in . Experts say the endangerment of bear - to - bear transmission is low-toned as polar bear are a solitary species , but the adult concern for several subpopulations is that reduced sea deoxyephedrine has fight them to feed more on seabirds , potentially leading to great virus exposure .
" The challenge is to fix if eating birds is increasing or if it ’s just that we ’re get more reports of glacial bears eating birds as there are more people in the Arctic and they ’re more likely to document such events,“Andrew Derocher , a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Canada ’s University of Alberta , told Live Science in an email . " Regardless , avian grippe is present in the Arctic and arctic bear are potential to have been and will be exposed . How big a challenge it is [ or ] will be for the bears is hard to recognise . "
Pollutioncould also make diametrical bear more vulnerable to bird flu . The species is extremely touch on by anthropogenetic chemicals because theyaccumulate in the animal ' high-pitched - fat diet . When the bear are thrust to prop , their rich stores deplete and the circulating pollutant store away in the blubber starting line to interfere with their immune systems . " A bear fasting for long , nutritionally punctuate , may have a weakened resistant system , " Derocher state . " Now expose a bear with a weaken immune organisation to avian flu and the issue of surviving the exposure becomes more challenging . "
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What happens next is unclear . Among polar bears , cases are potential to be limited to those scavenging or kill birds infected with the virus .
Clark said disease has n’t really been a major issue in polar bear conservation so far , but this could change , and bird flu could become a " cumulative stressor " on a population already facing sea ice departure .
" diminish the population of animals will mean fewer for breeding and bring up the next generation , " Gerlach tell . " This on top of the stressor for accession to habitat , solid food informant and impact of mood change could have some annihilating personal effects . "
