Polar bears could be in greater peril than what experts thought as their natural ice habitat continues to melt.

The ongoing shrinkage of the Arctic sea ice on which the white-furred predators hunt seals for food leads to food deprivation during summer, imposing a threat to their survival.

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In a study led by University of Wyoming biologist John Whiteman, they discovered that polar bears cannot adapt to the shrinking Arctic habitat since they are actually not capable of "walking hibernation" — an energy-conserving state of remaining active while also minimizing the physiological stresses of fasting — in contrast to common beliefs, Philly Voice has learned.

"There had long been an idea that polar bears can reduce their metabolism during the summer to resemble that of winter hibernation," said Whiteman. By doing so, their need for food during summer is reduced. He added that there are very limited evidence for the said response and despite that "no one had studied polar bear metabolism in the way we tested it in this paper, the idea was perpetuated."

In the research, Whiteman and his team studied around two dozen polar bears on shore and on ice in the Arctic Ocean's Beaufort Sea, north of Canada and Alaska. The animals were each measured and weighed before inserting implants into their abdomens through surgery. The implants were used to record the bears' core body temperature every hour for two years. Some of the bears were tracked via GPS and accelerometer to monitor their activity, as per The Verge.

Research findings revealed that although polar bears limit their energy expenditure during summer, their coping mechanism is not enough to compensate for the long fasting they face. Simply put, if the loss of Arctic ice would not stop, the animals probably won't survive.

"They are unable to reduce their metabolism to levels similar to hibernation," said University of Wyoming zoology and physiology professor Merav Ben-David.

The melting of Arctic sea ice is linked to rising temperatures brought about by global climate. But according to Whiteman, "We're not looking at any quantitative predictions for what will happen to the bears in the future in terms of climate change. There still are some fundamental aspects of polar bear biology that we have yet to understand," Pioneer News reported.

The study was published in the journal Science.

TagsPolar bears, Arctic sea, Study, Ice