New research spanning more than 200 years of observations shows that polar bears use rocks and blocks of ice to kill walruses.
TORONTO -- While polar bears are known for being worthy opponents in the Arctic, questions remained about how they managed some of their largest kills, such as walruses, and new research shows they employed the use of rock and blocks of ice as weapons.
Using these histories and documentation of brown bears using tools in captivity, Canadian zoologist and marine biologist Ian Sterling and colleagues set out to prove that polar bears use tools to hunt., published in the June edition of the journal Arctic, details various accounts of polar bears using blocks of ice or rocks to bludgeon 1,000 kg walruses to death.
Brown bears, polar bears' closest relative, have also been documented using tools in captivity, according to the study. While they haven’t been documented using tools to access salmon in a river, they opted for tools to help them get to food just out of their reach, just as GoGo did. “The [Inuit] of different tribes widely separated have told me they have watched a bear stalk a young walrus out on the ice, taking advantage of a hummock to get within striking distance, and then hit the walrus over the head with a piece of ice held in one paw,” reads an account by an explorer identified as Munn published in the study.
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