MOSCOW, November 18 (Sputnik) — The Southern Beaufort Sea polar bear population has decreased by 40 percent, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) announced.
"Southern Beaufort Sea polar bears show forty percent drop in number," the Monday release said.
According to WWF, the decline in this polar bear population is connected to climate change and a consequent loss of sea.
“We need to change course if we want to stop further habitat loss and ensure resilient wildlife populations, both in the Arctic and around the world," WWF’s Arctic Program's Managing Director Margaret Williams said, as quoted on the organization's official website.
The new data comes from a new study, published Monday in Ecological Applications of the Ecological Society of America. According to the study, between 2001 and 2010 the Southern Beaufort Sea polar bear population dropped from 1,500 to 900 bears.
According to WWF, climate change is one of the major threats to the polar bear population around the world because they are dependent on ice habitat.
