Polar Bears

The polar bear, also known as the white bear, northern bear, or sea bear, is a large bear native to the Arctic. It is one of the two largest land carnivore species and the top predator within its area. It is well adapted to its habitat: it has thick blubber and fur to insulate to it against the cold as well as white colored fur that camouflages it from its prey. The polar bear hunts well on land, on the sea ice, as well as in the water.

The polar bear is a circumpolar species found in and around the Arctic Ocean whose southern range limits are determined by pack ice. Their southernmost point is James Bay in Canada. While their numbers thin north, there is evidence of polar bears all the way across the Arctic. Population estimates are generally just over 20,000. The destruction of its habitat on the Arctic ice, which has been attributed to global warming, threatens the bear's survival as a species; it may become extinct within the century. Signs of this have already been observed at the southern edges of its range.

Because it is destruction of a natural habitat, it is unsure to say whether or not cloning would work on this species. Even if we manage to get the population to relatively high numbers, without a habitat there is no chance for their survival. The only way that we would be able to save the species is by saving its habitat, and the only way to save the habitat is to prevent such influences as global warming. As always, a difficulty of cloning would be the issue on diversity. A population of genetically identical species would be a problem, especially if the clones were susceptible to a deadly disease.

If cloning were to be an affective method, then there would be a possibility to use the grizzly bear. In fact, Polar Bears have breed with brown bears to produce fertile hybrids. It has been argued that the brown bears are a subspecies of the polar bears, therefore, cloning would not be a major issue