Polar bears typically hunt seals from sea-ice in the Arctic Circle, but the endangered animals are being pushed onto land longer due to a decline in ice and are looking for new prey to feast on.
Biologists at the Polish Polar Station, located on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, released the first footage of a polar bear hunting and eating a reindeer.
The deadly hunt, which occurred in August 2020, began when an adult female polar bear went after an adult reindeer that attempted to escape the predator by swimming in the Isbjørnhamna bay.
However, it took just a little over a minute for the polar bear to catch up to its prey, kill it and then drag it to shore where the bear ripped it apart for dinner.
The team believes this behavior is not only due to a loss of sea-ice, but the Arctic has seen an uptick in reindeer population over the past three decades and they are more accessible to the endangered predators.
The reindeer population increased in 1973 when the animals gained federal protection.
The deadly hunt began when an adult female polar bear went after an adult reindeer that attempted to escape its predator by swimming in the Isbjørnhamna bay
‘Pre-2000 sources state that polar bears do not attack Svalbard reindeer,' the researchers wrote in the paper published in Polar Biology.
'This report is the first description and documentation of the complete course of a polar bear hunt for adult reindeer in Hornsund, SW Spitsbergen, and also of the bear’s hunting behavior and the reindeer’s response.’
The paper also includes at least 12 reports made from bystanders, who saw bears hunting or eating reindeer, which the team says is evidence the attacks are becoming more frequent.
The documented event was captured by researchers on August 21, 2020, but the team is just now releasing the footage.
The polar bear was spotted about 328 feet from the Polish Polar Station, which sparked several scientists to walk outside and take a better look at the wild animal.
Biologists at the Polish Polar Station, located on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, released the first footage of a polar bear hunting and eating a reindeer.
The bear rushed toward the shore and dove into the frigid waters after its potential meal, reaching the reindeer about 82 feet from the shoreline
