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Dear Tom,
I was told there are plans to introduce polar bears to Antarctica to control the growing penguin population there. Is this true?
Gabriel S., Chicago

Dear Gabriel,
It is most definitely not true! Polar bears are inhabitants of the Arctic. Introduction of polar bears to the Antarctic would have dire consequences for the penguin populations of Antarctica. Penguins spend a portion of the year on land and would be defenseless against polar bears.

Polar bear populations in the Arctic are, generally, in decline, and it is mainly a consequence of climatic warming. Higher arctic temperatures are resulting, among other things, in less ice in the Arctic for a greater portion of the year, and less ice is causing problems for polar bears. They require a snow and ice-covered landscape, for most of the year, for their survival.

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