Polar bears are the most climate-vulnerable large mammal, with sea ice loss forcing longer fasting periods, nutritional stress, and increasing human-wildlife conflict as they seek food near communities.
Polar bear welfare is inseparable from the health of the Arctic sea ice ecosystem. Extended fasting periods caused by earlier ice break-up and later freeze-up cause progressive nutritional stress — bears emerging from summer in poor body condition enter the breeding season and winter denning period with depleted reserves. Lactating females with insufficient fat stores produce inadequate milk, causing cub starvation — a slow death from nutritional failure. Drowning during extended open-water swims as ice distribution changes is an acute welfare event increasingly documented. Human-wildlife conflict as bears approach communities for food results in bears being shot or relocated — both traumatic events for animals who survive them. The welfare solution requires addressing the root cause: climate change and Arctic sea ice loss.