Polar bear in 2006: Knut born

A hand-reared Berlin cub (2006-2011) whose fame and death made zoo ethics a tabloid. He is culture, not a sea-ice time series. Seals (especially ringed) are the fat that pays. Bird eggs, carrion and land food appear more in long ice-free summers -- a budget problem, not a new niche that replaces ice.

What is Nanook of the North to this file? The 1922 film staged Inuit life for a southern camera. It is a portrayal, not an ethnography of nanuq knowledge. No. They are cultural impact. The atlas keeps them off the scores for ice. The IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group and USGS ice-bear models are the technical chorus behind the VU card.

Polar bear is one of 24 types in this animals atlas. The pages treat it as a full system -- history, anatomy, operating principles, culture, icons, future pressure and market shape -- not a ranking of a best species. Scores compare the polar bear with the other 23 types on speed, intelligence, range, resilience, cultural impact and ecological role. They are relative editorial marks. Resilience high means more secure; low means threatened. Vulnerable. The 2008 US ESA listing treated sea-ice loss as the primary threat -- a climate instrument more than a hunt story.