The polar bear's genitals are getting smaller and smaller

The Arctic ice sheets are not the only things being shrunk. The genitals of white bears in eastern Greenland are also increasingly shrinking, due to the impact of industrial pollutants.

(Photo: LiveScience)

Scientists say this atrophy, in the worst case scenario, could put a polar bear at risk of extinction due to the difficult mating activity. Polar bears are already among the mammals with the lowest fertility rates.

In fact, all marine mammals are affected by these toxic chemicals, "especially the Arctic foxes, carnivorous dolphins (killer whale) and dart dolphins ," said the researcher. poisoned Christian Sonne at the National Institute of Environmental Research in Denmark. The bodies of these animals contain very high levels of toxins.

Polar bears in northern Norway, western Russia and eastern Greenland are among the worst poisoned animals in the Arctic, because they mainly eat seals, but the fat of these prey accumulates organohalogen content. causing great harm.

The testes of mature polar bears are about 7.6 cm in size and 51 grams in weight, but they can also grow significantly during the estrus season from January to July. Their penis is about 18 cm long.

Researchers found that the higher the content of bear pollutants in the bear, the smaller the size and weight of the genitals. Ovaries and weight of females also decreased when organohalogen content increased.

NM