As a Vulnerable species, regular estimates of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) numbers are an important requirement for understanding population status. In the Russian part of the Barents Sea subpopulation, near the Franz Josef Land Archipelago, counts of polar bears have not been conducted since 2004. We observed polar bears from icebreakers in this area in 2015 and 2017 and obtained a preliminary estimate of density and abundance.
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Ursus
Vol. 2020 • No. 31e14
January 2020
Vol. 2020 • No. 31e14
January 2020
abundance
Barents Sea
Franz Josef Land
icebreaker
polar bear
Russia
surveys