Rare moment of polar bears giving birth to triplets in the wild
German wildlife photographer Isabel Jauss captured these stunning images of the polar bear family.
Isabel Jauss has been tracking several polar bear families for weeks to capture images of the white-furred creatures.
The photographer has been to several locations within the Arctic Circle, including Wapusk National Park and Baffin Island in Canada, the Svalbard Islands in Norway.
“Polar bears are one of my favorite animals. “I have researched where the bear family can be found,” said the photographer.
The image captured by Isabel Jauss is a mother bear giving birth to three cubs in a rare polar bear triplet. Mama bear and her white cubs play in the snow.
Like other carnivores at the top of the food chain, polar bears have a low reproduction rate. Polar bears typically give birth to only one or two cubs per litter. The young will stay with their mother for about two years.
Females breed approximately every three years and only breed when they are about 5 or 6 years old.
Isabel Jauss said: “When I saw the rare triplets, I couldn’t believe my luck, they were playing with their mother. When I heard that the mother bear and her cubs had left their nest, I hurried to grab a warm coat, put on sturdy boots and go out into the cold.”
Polar bears are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss and melting ice in many areas of the world. In the harsh Arctic, bears are rare creatures that can survive.
Ice loss due to climate change has a direct impact on polar bears’ ability to feed and survive. Bears need layers of ice to reach prey such as seals. Arctic sea ice shrinks during the summer as the climate warms, and then ice forms in the winter.
Due to the effects of climate change, global warming temperatures cause ice to melt and become thinner. Without enough ice, seals cannot move on the ice, polar bears cannot continue hunting.
In recent years, sea ice has receded from the coast, forcing bears to dive into deep waters, sometimes up to 1.5 meters, in search of food and prey.