Midsummer observations on the behavior of wild polar bears ( Ursus maritimus)
Wild polar bears (Ursus maritimus) were observed from Caswall Tower, Devon Island (74°43′ N; 91°10′ W), from 24 July to 8 August 1973. A total of 602.7 bear hours of observations was recorded. Two types of hunting were observed, stalking and still-hunting. Of 288 hunts observed, 65 (22.6%) were stal...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
1974
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z74-157 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z74-157 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z74-157 2024-09-30T14:34:06+00:00 Midsummer observations on the behavior of wild polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) Stirling, Ian 1974 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z74-157 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z74-157 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 52, issue 9, page 1191-1198 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 1974 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z74-157 2024-09-05T04:11:15Z Wild polar bears (Ursus maritimus) were observed from Caswall Tower, Devon Island (74°43′ N; 91°10′ W), from 24 July to 8 August 1973. A total of 602.7 bear hours of observations was recorded. Two types of hunting were observed, stalking and still-hunting. Of 288 hunts observed, 65 (22.6%) were stalks and 233 (77.4%) were still-hunts. All cubs observed hunted, but they exhibited great variety in patience and apparent skill. Scavenging and intraspecific competition for possession of kills were observed. When threatened, adult females with cubs were not subordinate to tears of any other age or sex classes. A diurnal rhythm was recorded in which bears slept most during the latter third of the 24-h cycle and least in the first third. The average of 17 sleeps longer than 60 min was 465 ± 301.3 min.Basking ringed seals (Phoca hispida) alternated between lying flat and raising their heads to look about for predators. The mean duration of the lying and looking phases was 26.3 and 7.0 s respectively (n = 591 and 580). The variation between individual seals was greater than within individuals. If a group of seals hauled out together, all individuals maintained watchful behavior; no single animal acted as a "sentry" for the others. Article in Journal/Newspaper Devon Island Phoca hispida Ursus maritimus Canadian Science Publishing Caswall Tower ENVELOPE(-91.201,-91.201,74.702,74.702) Devon Island ENVELOPE(-88.000,-88.000,75.252,75.252) Patience ENVELOPE(-68.933,-68.933,-67.750,-67.750) Canadian Journal of Zoology 52 9 1191 1198 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Wild polar bears (Ursus maritimus) were observed from Caswall Tower, Devon Island (74°43′ N; 91°10′ W), from 24 July to 8 August 1973. A total of 602.7 bear hours of observations was recorded. Two types of hunting were observed, stalking and still-hunting. Of 288 hunts observed, 65 (22.6%) were stalks and 233 (77.4%) were still-hunts. All cubs observed hunted, but they exhibited great variety in patience and apparent skill. Scavenging and intraspecific competition for possession of kills were observed. When threatened, adult females with cubs were not subordinate to tears of any other age or sex classes. A diurnal rhythm was recorded in which bears slept most during the latter third of the 24-h cycle and least in the first third. The average of 17 sleeps longer than 60 min was 465 ± 301.3 min.Basking ringed seals (Phoca hispida) alternated between lying flat and raising their heads to look about for predators. The mean duration of the lying and looking phases was 26.3 and 7.0 s respectively (n = 591 and 580). The variation between individual seals was greater than within individuals. If a group of seals hauled out together, all individuals maintained watchful behavior; no single animal acted as a "sentry" for the others. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stirling, Ian |
spellingShingle |
Stirling, Ian Midsummer observations on the behavior of wild polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
author_facet |
Stirling, Ian |
author_sort |
Stirling, Ian |
title |
Midsummer observations on the behavior of wild polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
title_short |
Midsummer observations on the behavior of wild polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
title_full |
Midsummer observations on the behavior of wild polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
title_fullStr |
Midsummer observations on the behavior of wild polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Midsummer observations on the behavior of wild polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
title_sort |
midsummer observations on the behavior of wild polar bears ( ursus maritimus) |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1974 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z74-157 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z74-157 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-91.201,-91.201,74.702,74.702) ENVELOPE(-88.000,-88.000,75.252,75.252) ENVELOPE(-68.933,-68.933,-67.750,-67.750) |
geographic |
Caswall Tower Devon Island Patience |
geographic_facet |
Caswall Tower Devon Island Patience |
genre |
Devon Island Phoca hispida Ursus maritimus |
genre_facet |
Devon Island Phoca hispida Ursus maritimus |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 52, issue 9, page 1191-1198 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z74-157 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
52 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
1191 |
op_container_end_page |
1198 |
_version_ |
1811637801323593728 |