Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Distribution and Abundance of Polar Bear (Ursus Maritimus) Dens in Chukotka (Based on Inquiries of Representatives of Native Peoples)

  • Published:
Biology Bulletin Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research on the project “Traditional Knowledge of Chukotka Native Peoples on the Polar Bear and Its Habitat” was carried out in the years 1999–2003. One of the main objectives of the project was to collect information about the location of polar bear dens. The studies were based on individual interviews with the most active hunters and elders from native villages located within the polar bear range. Fifty-three people from 20 villages were questioned. Data on 278 den locations in the period from 1943 to 2002, as well as on the pattern of denning area use, were obtained. All dens and denning areas were mapped. Based on this information, 17 areas with regular and relatively high den densities were outlined. The total number of females that annually reproduced on the Chukotka mainland and offshore islands in the 1990s was estimated to be approximately 100–200 individuals. Possible options for changes in the reproductive strategy of females from the Alaska–Chukotka subpopulation against the background of an increase in the rate of loss of the sea ice habitat in the Pacific part of the Arctic are considered.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Amstrup, S.C. and Gardner, C.L., Polar bear maternity denning in the Beaufort Sea, J. Wildlife Manage., 1994, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Belikov, S.E., Polar bear, in Medvedi: buryi medved’, belyi medved’, gimalaiskii medved’ (Bears: Brown Bear, Polar Bear, and Asiatic Black Bear), Moscow: Nauka, 1993, pp. 420–478.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Belikov, S.E., Stashkevich, L.F., and Gaev, V.A., Ecology of polar bears on the Wrangel Island, in Zhivotnyi mir ostrova Vrangelya (The Fauna of the Wrangel Island), Vladivostok: DVNTs Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1986, pp. 127–134.

  4. Chelintsev, N.G., Determination of the absolute number of dens on the basis of sample surveys, in Belyi medved’ i ego okhrana v Sovetskoi Arktike (Polar Bear and Its Protection in the Soviet Arctic), Moscow: Tsentral’naya laboratoriya okhrany prirody MSKh SSSR, 1977, pp. 66–85.

  5. Derocher, A.E., Andersen, M., Wiig, Ø., Aars, J., Hansen, E., and Biuw, M., Sea ice and polar bear den ecology at Hopen Island, Svalbard, Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser., 2011, vol. 441, pp. 273–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Fischbach, A.S., Amstrup, S.C., and Douglas, D.C., Landward and eastward shift of Alaskan polar bear denning associated with recent sea ice changes, Polar Biol., 2007, vol. 30, pp. 1395–1405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Garner, G.W., Knick, S.T., and Douglas, D.C., Seasonal movements of adult female polar bears in the Bering and Chukchi seas, in Int. Conf. on Bear Res. Manage., vol. 8, 1990, pp. 219–226.

  8. Geptner, V.G., Naumov, N.P., Yurgenson, P.B., Sludskii, A.A., Chirkova, A.F., and Bannikov, A.G., Mlekopitayushchie Sovetskogo Soyuza (Mammals of the Soviet Union), vol. 2, pt. 1: Morskie korovy i khishchnye (Sea Cows and Carnivores), Moscow: Vysshaya Shkola, 1967.

  9. Kalxdorf, S.B., Collection of Local Knowledge Regarding Polar Bear Habitat Use in Alaska, Technical Report MMM 97-2, Fish and Wildlife Service Region 7, Alaska: U. S. Department of the Interior, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Kishchinskii, A.A., Belyi medved’ (The Polar Bear), Moscow: Lesnaya Promyshlennost’, 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Kochnev, A.A., Collection of traditional knowledge of native people of Chukotka on the polar bear, Inf. Byul. Soveta Morsk. Mlekopit., 2003, no. 8, pp. 66–68.

  12. Kochnev, A.A., Research on polar bear autumn aggregations on Chukotka, 1989–2004, in Polar Bears: Proc. 14th Working Meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group, Aars, J., Lunn, N.J., and Derocher, A.E., Eds., IUCN Species Surv. Comm. Occas., 2006, paper 32, pp. 157–165.

  13. Kochnev, A.A., Etylin, V.M., Kavry, V.I., Siv-Siv, E.B., and Tanko, I.V., What do the native hunters of Chukotka know about the polar bear, Okhr. Dikoi Prir., 2005, no. 1, pp. 21–24.

  14. Lentfer, J.W., Polar bear denning on drifting sea ice, J. Mammal., 1975, vol. 56, no. 3, pp. 716–718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Lentfer, J.W. and Hensel, R.J., Alaskan polar bear denning, in Int. Conf. on Bear Res. Manage., 1980, vol. 3, pp. 101–108.

  16. Portenko, L.A., Polar bear congregation on the Wrangel Island, Sov. Okhotnik, 1941, no. 3, p. 34.

  17. Pridatko, V.I., The search for the polar bear dens in the sea ice, in Biologicheskie problemy Severa, IX Vsesoyuznyi simpozium, Tezisy dokladov (Biological Problems of the North, IX All-Union Symp., Abstracts of Papers), Syktyvkar, 1981, p. 56.

  18. Rode, K.D., Wilson, R.R., Regehr, E.V., St. Martin, M., Douglas, D.C., and Olson, J., Increased land use by Chukchi Sea polar bears in relation to changing sea ice conditions. PLoS One, 2015, vol. 10, no. 11. e0142213. doi 10.1371/journal. pone.0142213

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Smith, M.A., Arctic Marine Synthesis: Atlas of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, Anchorage: Audubon Alaska, Oceana, 2010.

  20. Stishov, M.S., Results of aerial counts of the polar bear dens on the arctic coasts of the extreme northeast Asia, in Polar Bears: Proceedings of the 10th Working Meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group, Amstrup, S.C. and Wiig, O., Eds., IUCN Species Surv. Comm. Occas., 1991a, paper 7, pp. 90–92.

  21. Stishov, M.S., Distribution and abundance of polar bear dens on Wrangel and Herald islands in 1985–1989, in Populyatsii i soobshchestva zhivotnykh ostrova Vrangelya (Populations and Communities of Animals of the Wrangel Island), Moscow: Tsentr. Nauchno-Issled. Lab. Glavokhoty RSFSR, 1991b, pp. 91–115.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Stishov, M.S., Polar bear research in the Wrangel Island State Nature Reserve, Russia, 1990–1996, in Polar Bears: Proceedings of the 12th Working Meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group, Derocher, A.E., Garner, G.W., Lunn, N.J., and Wiig, O., Eds., IUCN Species Surv. Comm. Occas., 1998, paper 19, pp. 147–152.

  23. Stroeve, J., Serreze, M., Drobot, S., Gearheard, S., Holland, M., et al., Arctic sea ice extent plummets in 2007, EOS, 2008, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 13–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Uspenskii, S.M. and Chernyavskii, F.B., Materials on the ecology, distribution, and conservation of the polar bear in the Soviet Arctic, Okhot.-Promysl. Zveri, 1965, no. 1, pp. 215–228.

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project was implemented when the author worked at the Chukotka Branch of the Pacific Research Fishery Center (ChukotTINRO) and was supported financially by the U.S. National Park Service. The author is grateful to Technical Project Director V.M. Etylin and district coordinators V.I. Kavry (deceased), E.B. Siv-Siv, and I.V. Tanko. The author also thanks S.E. Belikov (All-Russia Research Institute of Environmental Protection) for providing valuable comments in the review. The author is grateful to all residents of native villages of Chukotka who shared their knowledge in the course of this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biological Problems of the North, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 685000, Magadan, Russia

    A. A. Kochnev

  2. Beringia National Park, 689251, Provideniya, Russia

    A. A. Kochnev

Authors
  1. A. A. Kochnev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. A. Kochnev.

Additional information

Translated by D. Zabolotny

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kochnev, A.A. Distribution and Abundance of Polar Bear (Ursus Maritimus) Dens in Chukotka (Based on Inquiries of Representatives of Native Peoples). Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 45, 839–846 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359018080058

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359018080058

Keywords:

Search

Navigation