The melting of the Arctic ice has led to the fact that polar bears began to mate with relatives more often. This is reported by the Independent.
From 1995 to 2015, Norwegian scientists observed polar bears living in the Svalbard archipelago. The main task of the research was to determine the influence of climatic changes on the situation with the reproduction of the species. Scientists have found that closely related relationships between animals led to the loss of 10% of the diversity of mammals.
The reason for the incest tendency in polar bears is simple: the natural ecosystem is destroyed, as a result of which the ice melts and the bear populations are divided into small communities of animals that are closely related.
Scientists believe that incest will lead to a gradual deterioration in the quality of polar bear offspring. But mating with relatives is not the only problem with polar bears. The food supply for animals has sharply decreased: there are few seals, bears are forced to hunt seabirds and get their eggs.
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