Melting of Arctic sea ice may reduce polar bear population

Polar bears currently number about 26,000, but their population is expected to diminish by some 8,600 animals over the next 35 to 40 years, the scientists said

New Delhi: Scientists have claimed that the rise in temperature that melts ice in the Arctic may probably reduce the polar bear population by a third.

Experts also claim that the same warming is likely to worsen and decline the population of wild reindeer.

The polar bear research is drawn from new satellite data documenting a loss of Arctic sea ice - the animal`s chief habitat - from 1979 to 2015, and forming the basis of projections in further declines of both ice and bears over the coming decades.

Polar bears currently number about 26,000, but their population is expected to diminish by some 8,600 animals over the next 35 to 40 years, the scientists said.

At the time polar bears were declared a threatened species in 2008, one study predicted they could vanish from two-thirds of their native range by mid-century.

The latest data better quantifies such an outcome.