Photographer shares picture of an emaciated polar bear

Kerstin Langenberger, a photographer and conservationist based in Germany, posted a photo in August that would soon blaze across the Internet. The shocking picture showed a thin polar bear stumbling around the top of an ice floe off the coast of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole, which is well known for its polar bear populations.

The coat of the bear sagged from its bony frame and the photo contrasted with the image most links to this strong, symbolic mammal of the Arctic.

Discovery News's Jennifer Viegas wrote an article for which she talked to experts regarding the photo and what it might symbolize for the Arctic's future and its animal inhabitants. She followed up with Langenberger to know her thoughts about the picture, reactions and likely implications.

They also went to former DNews writer Kieran Mulvaney, author of the 2011 book, 'The Great White Bear: A Natural & Unnatural History of the Polar Bear'. Mulvaney was the one who captured a photo of his own of an emaciated polar bear off the Beaufort Sea coast of Alaska 17 years ago. He shared his thoughts on what such photos might mean.

When Langenberger was asked about whether she has seen other polar bears in the area that are as emaciated? She replied that in the last 4 years, she had seen about one extremely skinny bear per year, and about 60-70 bears every summer. She called it an unusual sight, yet normal.