Campaign to save polar bears

The explorer Jim McNeil has travelled to the Arctic island of Spitzbergen to report on the effect global warming is having on polar bears.

It is the start of a campaign in conjunction with the Born Free Foundation to help try and save these beautiful animals.

As he explains: "I am heading up a 200 mile expedition along the east coast of the island taking a snap shot of the polar bear population. Something we simply just don't know enough about."

The mild winter is having a devastating effect on their lives in the Arctic as they depend on the ice to hunt. It's breaking up sooner every year - shortening the hunting season.

After six days the team came across a female bear on land at a time of year when they should be on the sea ice looking for food. Sadly the extent to which the ice has melted was clear to the team.

Later in the trip they came across a mother and her cub. Most polar bears have two cubs each year, which suggests one of the mother's cub could have died. It could also be an indication of the stress put on the mother due to a lack of food.

Possibly being seen as a potential meal the team were even followed by an inquisitive bear. "We found footprints of a polar bear following us. In several instances you get polar bears that really don't want to leave you alone. I guess after a week in the field you begin to smell quite tasty to them," said Mr McNeil.

Such experiences seem to suggest that the polar bear is indeed facing a crisis and that unless something is done to halt the melting of Arctic ice these creatures could become extinct.

© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

Post to Fark Post to del.icio.us Digg this story Post to reddit Post to Facebook Post to StumbleUpon Seed Newsvine Post to GNN Post to MySpace