TEAMHumanity

POLAR bears are being turned into cannibals by global warming, zoologists claimed yesterday.

"The first cannibalistic polar bear was found by researchers in January 2004."

Longer seasons without ice, caused by climate change, mean the giant carnivore cannot reach its natural food sources in the Arctic. Experts said the trend represented ‘the bloody fingerprints’ of global warming.

Polar bears feed primarily on ringed seals and use sea ice for feeding, mating and giving birth. Scientists recorded three instances of polar bears preying on each other for food in Alaska and western Canada. One incident was the first reported case of a female being killed in a den shortly after giving birth. ‘In 24 years of research, we have not seen other instances of polar bears eating other polar bears,’ said Steven Amstrup from the US Geological Survey's Alaska Science Centre.

The first cannibalistic polar bear was found by researchers in January 2004. A male bear pounced on a den, killed a female, dragged her 75 metres and ate part of her carcass. Females are about half the size of males.

Zoologist Kassie Siegal said the study heightened fears that polar bears might become extinct before the end of the century. Ms Siegal, of the California Centre for Biological Diversity, added: ‘It shows how severe the problem of global warming is for polar bears.’