Since polar bears need sufficient arctic ocean freezing to hunt and survive in

[bonobo]

the winter, should scientists..? strategically plant carcasses of abundant animals (that polar bears normally hunt during winters) when there is minimal arctic ice freezing which may be due to global warming.

[markV]

Would it be practical or even possible to "strategically place" food around the warmer Arctic areas to feed the polar bears? It initially might sound nice, in vague theory, but it also sounds like putting them in a zoo. Also, the fact is that the bears (except in areas like Churchill, Canada) are totally unaccustomed to hunting anywhere than at the water's edge or even out on the ice flows themselves. In fact, in the warmer summers, the bears can actually get trapped on land, because they need to get to sea to feed, but the distance to the safety of the ice flow and its hunting grounds are too far to swim. In almost all cases, these animals die, as their only possible food source are shoreline seals. They might not even know what to really do with food set out for them.

You also have to deal with a huge area. A *single* bear's range can be from 23,166 square miles all the way to a recorded 135,135 square miles! Sometimes they don't even stay within their own range, traveling 19 miles or more *per day* for several days. One polar bear was tracked traveling 50 miles in only one day! Another polar bear traveled 695 miles in only one year. They can range from the edge of the Bering Sea, all the way to 88 degrees latitude. That's huge.

Further, consider this - it's estimated that there are between 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears. Can anyone feed them all? Or even just a significant number of them? The average polar bear on an average day needs to average a minimum of about 15 pounds of healthy meat per day just to stay alive. To actually stay safe and healthy, they need about twice that - you're feeding an animal that can weigh more than a ton. That's a whole bunch of food to lay out, over a huge area of land, to feed a whole lot of bears with strategically placed meals.

As a final note, pregnant females need about four times the normal intake, as they need to not only survive a normal winter hibernation, but they need to do it while providing in utero foot for what is usually a pair of cubs. Then, when the cubs are born, and she's raising them, she needs to have eaten enough food to survive on her stored fat alone, because all of her time is spent teacher her little bear cubs how to survive, and how to hunt - all while hunting for them, because they can't provide for themselves yet.

Seriously, it's a very nice idea, but wildly impractical. Polar bears are my favorite animal, and they're magnificent creatures. Unfortunately, it's difficult for even wealthy, good zoos like the one here in San Diego just to adequately and properly care and provide a good habitat for a group of four bears.

[brian]

no they should let them just die off, if they cant live in this world then they need to go? it is not our responsibility to take care of every living thing in this world!

why do people feel they need to save all these animals?