Climate crisis pushing polar bears to mate with grizzlies, producing hybrid ‘pizzly’ bears | The Independent

Scientists say warming Arctic is expanding range of grizzlies, bringing species into greater contact…

Back in 2006, a strange polar bear was seen in the Northwest Territories of the Canadian Arctic. It had patches of brown on its otherwise white fur and an unusual face shape.

Hunters shot the bear dead and DNA tests confirmed what had been suspected: it was the hybrid offspring of a polar bear and a grizzly bear.

In 2010, another hybrid bear was shot by a hunter in the western Canadian Arctic. Tests revealed this animal was a second-generation cross born of a hybrid mother and grizzly father.

These were the first recorded instances of so-called “pizzly” or “grolar” bears. But over the last decade researchers have noted an increase in sightings of the hybrid creatures, and believe the climate crisis is behind the rise.

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/pizzly-bear-polar-grizzly-hybrid-b1831847.html?amp