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Polar Bears and Penguins

Polar Bears and Penguins

Science

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Would polar bears thrive in Antarctica?

How about penguins in the Arctic?

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Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Would polar bears thrive in Antarctica?

How about penguins in the Arctic?
Would penguins thrive if polar bears moved to the Antarctic?

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Originally posted by twhitehead
Would penguins thrive if polar bears moved to the Antarctic?
The Polar Bears would thrive until all the Penguins had been eaten.


Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Would polar bears thrive in Antarctica?

How about penguins in the Arctic?
If the habitat and food sources are favorable. 😕

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Originally posted by CLL53
The Polar Bears would thrive until all the Penguins had been eaten.
I think the penguins would learn to avoid said bear, they watch out for predators and if they live close to water, they can get away. Some of them, however, live 40 or more miles from water. I imagine they would move a lot closer to open water if bears were introduced into their habitat.

Obviously the bear would get a few, just like when they fish for salmon, they get some but the majority gets away.

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Originally posted by sonhouse
I think the penguins would learn to avoid said bear, they watch out for predators and if they live close to water, they can get away. Some of them, however, live 40 or more miles from water. I imagine they would move a lot closer to open water if bears were introduced into their habitat.

Obviously the bear would get a few, just like when they fish for salmon, they get some but the majority gets away.
Penguins are very slow on 'land' and they have to spend large periods of time on land.

They have not had to evolve to deal with land predators and so the likely result of introducing
a major land predator is likely going to be the same as the historical instances of the introduction
of land predators (often cats) to places where the native creatures have not evolved to deal with
them...

The native creatures go extinct.

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Originally posted by sonhouse
I think the penguins would learn to avoid said bear, they watch out for predators and if they live close to water, they can get away. Some of them, however, live 40 or more miles from water. I imagine they would move a lot closer to open water if bears were introduced into their habitat.
I can't imagine penguins being intelligent enough to move their entire breeding colonies from the inland to the shore. And even if they did, I can't imagine it helping much; baby penguins can's swim yet.

Richard

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This is the example I was thinking of.

I suspect that the introduction of polar bears to Antarctica would go like this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephens_Island_Wren

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduced_mammals_on_seabird_breeding_islands