This image is sure to shock a lot of people. An adult polar bear pulls a bear cub that it killed onto the ice
Usually polar bears hunt seals, but if there are few seals, these predators start looking for new sources of food, including among other bears.
This photo was taken by environmentalist and photojournalist Jenny Ross in the Olga Strait in the Spitsbergen archipelago.
Photo: Jenny Ross / bbc.co.uk
Photo: Jenny Ross / bbc.co.uk
“This kind of intraspecific behavior is always seen among predators,” she says. "However, lately, it has been more and more common among polar bears, especially when they remain on land due to lack of ice as a result of global warming."
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The journalist presented her photographs at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union, held in San Francisco.
Jenny Ross approached her subject on the boat. She saw through a strong telephoto lens that the bear had recently killed its prey, but only at close range did it become clear that the victim was a young bear.
The bear used the same method as when hunting for seals - he bit another bear's head.
"As soon as an adult bear saw our boat, he took a defensive posture - he saddled the victim's body and stood on his hind legs - this is a signal that he will protect his prey."
Photo: Jenny Ross / bbc.co.uk
“Then he grabbed the victim with his teeth and dragged it to another ice floe. And only after moving away from us at a considerable distance, he began to eat."
According to Jenny Ross, she has seen another polar bear in the area, probably the mother of the deceased bear cub.
The Olga Strait separates the two main islands of the Spitsbergen archipelago. It usually stays under the ice all year round. However, in recent years, during the summer period, the ice began to disappear for several months. This has led to famine among polar bears who hunt seals from the pack ice.