Worth the dip? Polar bear predation on swimming flightless greater gnow geese and estimation of energetic efficiency
As sea-ice cover is shrinking, polar bears (Ursus maritimus, Phipps 1774) face decreased access to seals, their primary prey, resulting in a greater dependance on terrestrial food sources. Whether polar bears can benefit from these terrestrial food sources however depends on their ability to find an...
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Canadian Science Publishing
2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1139/AS-2023-0036 https://doaj.org/article/99c32b612b3e42dcbebbecedef681183 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:99c32b612b3e42dcbebbecedef681183 2023-12-03T10:14:45+01:00 Worth the dip? Polar bear predation on swimming flightless greater gnow geese and estimation of energetic efficiency Matthieu Weiss-Blais David Bolduc Madeleine-Zoé Corbeille-Robitaille Frédéric Dulude-de-Broin Thierry Grandmont Frédérique Letourneux Mathilde Poirier Denis Sarrazin Pierre Legagneux 2023-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1139/AS-2023-0036 https://doaj.org/article/99c32b612b3e42dcbebbecedef681183 EN FR eng fre Canadian Science Publishing https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/AS-2023-0036 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/AS-2023-0036 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/99c32b612b3e42dcbebbecedef681183 Arctic Science (2023) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1139/AS-2023-0036 2023-11-05T01:37:32Z As sea-ice cover is shrinking, polar bears (Ursus maritimus, Phipps 1774) face decreased access to seals, their primary prey, resulting in a greater dependance on terrestrial food sources. Whether polar bears can benefit from these terrestrial food sources however depends on their ability to find and capture prey items without expending more energy than is acquired. Here, we report one of the northernmost observations of polar bear predation on adult birds. The bear used a dive-hunting technique, which consisted of submerging itself, approaching underwater and catching flightless greater snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) from beneath the surface of a tundra pond. After evaluating energy expenditures during swimming and energy intakes from consuming geese, we estimated that this rarely documented dive-hunting technique could be energetically profitable for a certain range of pursuit duration. This observation highlights the behavioral plasticity that polar bears can deploy to punctually exploit land-based food sources. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Sea ice Tundra Ursus maritimus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Science |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English French |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 Matthieu Weiss-Blais David Bolduc Madeleine-Zoé Corbeille-Robitaille Frédéric Dulude-de-Broin Thierry Grandmont Frédérique Letourneux Mathilde Poirier Denis Sarrazin Pierre Legagneux Worth the dip? Polar bear predation on swimming flightless greater gnow geese and estimation of energetic efficiency |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
description |
As sea-ice cover is shrinking, polar bears (Ursus maritimus, Phipps 1774) face decreased access to seals, their primary prey, resulting in a greater dependance on terrestrial food sources. Whether polar bears can benefit from these terrestrial food sources however depends on their ability to find and capture prey items without expending more energy than is acquired. Here, we report one of the northernmost observations of polar bear predation on adult birds. The bear used a dive-hunting technique, which consisted of submerging itself, approaching underwater and catching flightless greater snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) from beneath the surface of a tundra pond. After evaluating energy expenditures during swimming and energy intakes from consuming geese, we estimated that this rarely documented dive-hunting technique could be energetically profitable for a certain range of pursuit duration. This observation highlights the behavioral plasticity that polar bears can deploy to punctually exploit land-based food sources. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Matthieu Weiss-Blais David Bolduc Madeleine-Zoé Corbeille-Robitaille Frédéric Dulude-de-Broin Thierry Grandmont Frédérique Letourneux Mathilde Poirier Denis Sarrazin Pierre Legagneux |
author_facet |
Matthieu Weiss-Blais David Bolduc Madeleine-Zoé Corbeille-Robitaille Frédéric Dulude-de-Broin Thierry Grandmont Frédérique Letourneux Mathilde Poirier Denis Sarrazin Pierre Legagneux |
author_sort |
Matthieu Weiss-Blais |
title |
Worth the dip? Polar bear predation on swimming flightless greater gnow geese and estimation of energetic efficiency |
title_short |
Worth the dip? Polar bear predation on swimming flightless greater gnow geese and estimation of energetic efficiency |
title_full |
Worth the dip? Polar bear predation on swimming flightless greater gnow geese and estimation of energetic efficiency |
title_fullStr |
Worth the dip? Polar bear predation on swimming flightless greater gnow geese and estimation of energetic efficiency |
title_full_unstemmed |
Worth the dip? Polar bear predation on swimming flightless greater gnow geese and estimation of energetic efficiency |
title_sort |
worth the dip? polar bear predation on swimming flightless greater gnow geese and estimation of energetic efficiency |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/AS-2023-0036 https://doaj.org/article/99c32b612b3e42dcbebbecedef681183 |
genre |
Arctic Sea ice Tundra Ursus maritimus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Sea ice Tundra Ursus maritimus |
op_source |
Arctic Science (2023) |
op_relation |
https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/AS-2023-0036 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/AS-2023-0036 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/99c32b612b3e42dcbebbecedef681183 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/AS-2023-0036 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
_version_ |
1784261867024154624 |