Aknuk is a hybrid of a brown and a polar bear. Also, these bears are also called grolar, peesley, nanulak or polar grizzly.
This interspecific hybrid was obtained not only in captivity, but also in nature, although these genetically similar animals in nature try not to collide on the same territory and occupy different ecological niches. Grizzlies inhabit the earth, and polar bears prefer ice and water. In this regard, aknuks are most often found in zoos.
Hybrid polar bear and grizzly bear in nature - a rare case
In 2006, on the island of Banks, which is located in the Arctic and belongs to Canada, an American hunter shot down such a hybrid. The first to understand that this bear looks strange, and most likely is half grizzly and half polar bear, was the conductor Roger Kuptana. In this regard, the corpse of a bear was sent to British Columbia to identify the animal.
The results of this identification were published on May 11, 2006. This was the first recorded case of the appearance of a hybrid in the wild, and man did not have a hand in this.
After studying the DNA, the bear was assigned to the polar grizzly, which was born in vivo.
Aknuk.Such hybrids have happened before, but in those days DNA analysis was not yet carried out. In addition, this analysis helped the hunter avoid a fine of CAD 1,000 or 12 months in prison for killing a grizzly, as the hunter only had a license to shoot polar bears.
In 2006, a huntsman from western Nunavut said that local Eskimos saw an unusually colored bear that lives with a couple of polar bears. This bear had a rare light chocolate color. Perhaps it was also a hybrid of a brown and a polar bear.
Polar Bears specialist Jan Stirling reports that scientists knew that such cases were possible, but many did not think that this could actually happen. Until 2006, this hybrid was obtained a couple of times in captivity, but it was believed that such animals could not exist in nature. It was through DNA analysis that irrefutable evidence was obtained of the existence of peesley in nature.
Before the acnuk DNA was studied, people did not suspect that it was a hybrid.Grizzlies and polar bears have been successfully crossed at zoos before. The offspring of such hybrids also turned out to be prolific. The breeding seasons in these species are basically the same, but in polar bears it begins earlier.
Life of hybrids of polar and brown bears in zoos
Polar grizzlies have thick creamy white fur, like polar bears. The claws are long, the back is humpback, small features, spots near the nose and eyes and the back, like a grizzly.
According to the laws for determining biological species, polar and brown bears are representatives of the same species, but there are a large number of morphological characters by which these species are separated. The crossing of these species is extremely rare, and the genetic material is mixed only in exceptional cases. In vivo, acnukes were obtained only in North America.
Aknuk is the largest and most dangerous land predator.The first information that a hybrid of bears was obtained was noted in 1874, in the German city of Halle. In the zoo of this city, hybrid cubs were born several times. Subsequently, several cubs lived in the London Zoo.
Hybrids from Halle gave offspring when crossing not only among themselves, but also with parental species. At birth, the cubs were white, but later their color changed to yellow-brown or bluish-brown.
In the German zoo since 1876, a female brown bear gave 4 times offspring from a male polar bear.
Mating cases of brown and polar bears have been observed for a very long time.Possible causes of the appearance of aknuk in nature
In nature, the appearance of akunuk was recorded 3 times. Brown bears in Alaska mainly live inland, and polar bears prefer water. Scientists believe that polar bears have to develop new territories due to climate warming and melting ice. In this regard, polar bears are moving away from the sea coast. Also, over the past 10 years, the movement of several individuals of grizzly has been noted; they appeared in the province of Manitoba, where previously exclusively polar bears lived.
Grizzlies were first discovered in Manitoba in 2008. Biologists believe that grizzlies go into hibernation in the territory by which polar bears bring offspring. In the past 10 years, brown bears have been recorded in the northern parts of the land - on the islands of Melville and Victoria. Due to the overlapping habitats of grizzlies and polar bears, more frequent cases of hybridization can be observed in the future.
The hybrids of polar and brown bears are called polar grizzlies, grolars, nanulaki, and aknuk.In 1864, a bear zoologist and taxonomist described a bear that was killed on Lake Rendezvous; it was a dull white bear with a brownish-golden muzzle. It is believed that this is the first recorded acnuk in nature.
Hybrid Aknuk appeared due to climate change. The DNA of polar and brown bears enables them to mate and produce prolific offspring that are more adapted to global warming.
Features of the nature and lifestyle of hybrids
In hybrids, the behavior is more similar to the behavior of polar bears. From their polar ancestors, the Aknuki inherited a light color and aggressiveness. Hybrids eat fish and animals, and the berries do not exchange, while 80% of the grizzly diet is plant food.
The first reliable information about the hybrid of brown and polar bears was obtained at the zoo in the German city of Halle.Hunting behavior in aknuks is already apparent at an early age: in zoos, cubs trample toys, as polar bears do, breaking ice, and also throw them aside, as polar bears do, killing prey. Grizzly no such throwing movements are observed. In addition, hybrids crawl in a plastopian way, spreading their hind legs - this behavior is inherent in polar bears.
Polar bears lie solely on their stomach, and grizzly bears on their sides. In addition, the hairs of hybrid individuals have voids inherent in both types of bears. Females have less voids in their hair than males.
The second generation of hybrid bears in nature
The hybrid of the polar and brown bear in 2006 made a lot of noise, but the acnuk in 2010 became even more famous. A hunter on Victoria Island shot down what he thought was a polar bear. After studying the DNA, it became clear that the mother of this individual was a hybrid, and the father was an ordinary grizzly bear.
The nature and behavior of the aknuk are more similar to those of the polar bears, however, some features are still borrowed from the brown.The Department of Environmental Protection officially announced that the first second-generation grolar in the wild was discovered. It was decided to call the Pisley and Nanulaki hybrids if the mother becomes a grizzly bear, and the polar bear becomes the father, and call the groler or acnuk when the polar bear is the mother and the grizzly father.
