News Animals

A peek into polar bears’ lives reveals revved-up metabolisms

In a world with declining Arctic sea ice, that could be a problem

polar bear

BEARS ON ICE  A study that put camera collars on polar bears showed that the bears have higher springtime metabolic rates than previous estimates.

A. Pagano/USGS

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

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Female polar bears prowling springtime sea ice have extreme weight swings, some losing more than 10 percent of their body mass in just over a week.