Kerstin Langenberger, a wildlife photographer, just acquired this shot of a starving polar bear off the coast of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.
“I’ve only seen a few gorgeous obese mothers with beautiful fat children. I’ve seen a lot of very skinny bears, and they’ve all been females – like this one here “In the description of the photo, Langenberger adds.
Polar bears in the Arctic are facing a bleak future owing to climate change.
Sea ice has melted due to rising temperatures. Polar bears hunt seals on this sea ice. Without it, bears have shifted to land-based food sources such as snow geese and caribou, which are less numerous.
“However, there is just not enough food on land to feed so many huge bears,” says the author.
Ian Stirling, a scientist, told the National Post.
As a result, some polar bears get malnourished. Regrettably, Langenberger’s photograph appears to back up that assertion.
Svalbard has roughly 3,000 polar bears, with a global population of 20,000 to 25,000. However, there is a lot of discussion over their future: While some experts believe the situation is dire, others believe that certain polar bear populations are stable.
However, if the image above is any indicator, the future appears to be bleak.
Kerstin Langenberger may be found on Facebook. Here are a few of her beautiful photographs.