Lions and Tigers and Polar Bears. Oh my!

Ok, maybe no lions and tigers, but definitely polar bears.

An article on CNN laments how the shrinking of Arctic ice is starving polar bears and causing them to turn to cannibalism. Oh, woe is me! Damn that global warming! It's Bush's fault! It's Palin's fault! It's time to panic!

Oh...wait.

Polar bears are a naturally aggressive species. Oftentimes, the adult males will eat their young and the smaller females for survival and to eliminate competition. They exhibit these same behaviors when there is an abundance of ice. Nature is not always pretty, my green friends. Deal with it.

An article called "Observations of Intraspecific Aggression and Cannibalism in Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus)" notes the natural behaviors of polar bears:

Cannibalism in polar bears appears to occur as carrion feeding and as attacks by males on small cubs or incapacitated individuals. Direct observations indicate that intraspecific killing and cannibalism occur among polar bears throughout the Arctic. The high incidence of Trichinella infection and circumpolar observations of cannibalism suggest that polar bears will readily eat other polar bears when they can do so without excessive risk of injury. Speculations that intraspecific aggression and cannibalism may be an important social and ecological force are consistent with existing information on polar bear biology.

Wouldn't it be nice if the media would do a little more research and at least mention that this does occur normally.

Not to mention, the earth has been warmer in the past than it current is, and somehow our polar bear buddies managed to survive.

So, phew! We can all calm down. The world is not ending tomorrow.