# Polar bears in Antarctica **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333 "2004-12-06T06:36:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Milkman\_Dan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Milkman\_Dan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milkman_Dan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/1 "2004-12-06T06:36:02Z")
I was wondering if it would be theoretically possible for an introduced population of polar bears to survive in the Antarctic. Since polar bears can survive in the coldest of the cold temperatures, I don’t imagine that the weather would be a problem. This would also be assuming that it’s in an area where there are sea lions, seals, and possibly penguins to provide a source of food. And if this was possible, would there be any legal implications to introducing a destructive species to Antarctica since it isn’t controlled by any one country? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/2 "2004-12-06T06:48:31Z")
Possible maybe but foolish. The Antarctic seals and sea lions don’t seem to have any land predators to worry about. It seems to me that the introduction of Polar bears would be destructive. For example, there are no land predators in Antarctica so the young seals are dark colored whereas Arctic pups are white. Polar bears would have an easy time finding the young and might kill a large percentage of the future generations in short order. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/3 "2004-12-06T07:29:59Z")
[Polar Bear] So the male kangaroo doesn’t have a pouch. Only the female has it. So the male has pouch envy. He says, “why can’t I have a pouch. I have things to carry, too. Maybe can I get a pocket?” [/PB] Ohhh…_that_ kind of polar bear. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/4 "2004-12-06T12:12:01Z")
I don’t think they’d do very well on Antarctica itself, but somewhere like [Kerguelen](http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/kerguelen/kerguelen_species.html), a French Territory in the middle of the southern Indian Ocean, might be better… It’s a mountainous, inhospitable archaepelago mainly used a weather station now. It has already had various species introduced to it; cattle ranching was tried in the 1930s but failed but there are herds of reindeer and other species as well. Being so far from other islands, I reckon the chances of their expanding their range to other islands in the southern hemisphere is pretty remote and Polar Bears might even help keep down the populations of feral cats and rats on the islands! ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/5 "2004-12-06T18:57:06Z")
Don’t the feral cats handle the rats 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/6 "2004-12-06T22:45:22Z")
And the bears can handle the cats! Perfect! ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/7 "2004-12-07T00:47:14Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > I don’t think they’d do very well on Antarctica itself, but somewhere like [Kerguelen](http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/kerguelen/kerguelen_species.html), a French Territory in the middle of the southern Indian Ocean, might be better… It’s a mountainous, inhospitable archaepelago mainly used a weather station now. > It has already had various species introduced to it; cattle ranching was tried in the 1930s but failed but there are herds of reindeer and other species as well. > > Being so far from other islands, I reckon the chances of their expanding their range to other islands in the southern hemisphere is pretty remote and Polar Bears might even help keep down the populations of feral cats and rats on the islands! Is the weather station manned? I don’t think those people would take kindly to finding polar bear tracks at their front door. :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/8 "2004-12-07T01:13:23Z")
…and most important of all, that meddling Encyclopedia Brown will be shown up for once and for all! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/9 "2004-12-07T01:25:12Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > Possible maybe but foolish. The Antarctic seals and sea lions don’t seem to have any land predators to worry about. It seems to me that the introduction of Polar bears would be destructive. > > For example, there are no land predators in Antarctica so the young seals are dark colored whereas Arctic pups are white. Polar bears would have an easy time finding the young and might kill a large percentage of the future generations in short order. It would help increase the speed of evolution in seals and sea lions of antartica. Either that or kill them all. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/10 "2004-12-07T01:27:16Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > It would help increase the speed of evolution in seals and sea lions of antartica. Either that or kill them all. 😉 Unless there is already a variant for white pups (or one randonly shows up pretty quickly), it won’t do anything. They’ll die. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/11 "2004-12-07T02:18:47Z")
> [@threemae](#): > > And the bears can handle the cats! Perfect! No, No, No. We should introduce dogs to handle the feral cats. And then have the polar bears handle the feral dogs. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/12 "2004-12-07T03:29:55Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > I don’t think they’d do very well on Antarctica itself, but somewhere like [Kerguelen](http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/kerguelen/kerguelen_species.html), a French Territory in the middle of the southern Indian Ocean, might be better… It’s a mountainous, inhospitable archaepelago mainly used a weather station now. > It has already had various species introduced to it; cattle ranching was tried in the 1930s but failed but there are herds of reindeer and other species as well. > > Being so far from other islands, I reckon the chances of their expanding their range to other islands in the southern hemisphere is pretty remote and Polar Bears might even help keep down the populations of feral cats and rats on the islands! Given that Kerguelen is an important nesting ground for several species of penguins, albatrosses, and other seabirds, and a breeding site for elephant seals, I think polar bears would be pretty good at “keeping down” their populations as well. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/13 "2004-12-07T03:38:23Z")
> [@RandomLetters](#): > > No, No, No. We should introduce dogs to handle the feral cats. > > And then have the polar bears handle the feral dogs. 😃 She’s dead, of course. (obscure song ref.) ---
**Author:** ![Milkman\_Dan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Milkman\_Dan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milkman_Dan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/14 "2004-12-07T05:59:16Z")
So if you released polar bears into the Antarctic and they caused damage to the local wildlife, what could legally happen to you given that Antarctica is supposed to be neutral? Would you be charged by your own country? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/15 "2004-12-07T06:55:07Z")
> [@Milkman Dan](#): > > So if you released polar bears into the Antarctic and they caused damage to the local wildlife, what could legally happen to you given that Antarctica is supposed to be neutral? Would you be charged by your own country? Some countries take a more proprietary interest in Antarctica than others given it’s proximity to them. I think the Chileans would be all over your ass if they caught you smuggling in polar bears. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/16 "2004-12-07T08:44:46Z")
> [@](#): > > It would help increase the speed of evolution in seals and sea lions of antartica. Either that or kill them all. It would certainly increase the speed of evolution. Extinction is a special case of evolution, albeit a rather dramatic one. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/17 "2004-12-07T15:07:22Z")
> [@Milkman Dan](#): > > So if you released polar bears into the Antarctic and they caused damage to the local wildlife, what could legally happen to you given that Antarctica is supposed to be neutral? Would you be charged by your own country? There is a [Protocol on Environmental Protection](http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/About_Antarctica/Treaty/protocol.html) that has been added to the Antarctic Treaty. One of the provisions of Appendix 2 covers introduction of non-native wildlife: > [@](#): > > Article 4 > > Introduction of Non-native Species, Parasites and Diseases > > 1. No species of animal or plant not native to the Antarctic Treaty area shall be introduced onto land or ice shelfs, or into water in the Antarctic Treaty area except in accordance with a permit. > > 2. Dogs shall not be introduced onto land or ice shelves and dogs currently in those areas shall be removed by April 1, 1994. > > . . . Regarding enforcement, the protocol says: > [@](#): > > Article 13 > > Compliance with this Protocol > > 1. Each Party shall take appropriate measures within its competence, including the adoption of laws and regulations, administrative actions and enforcement measures, to ensure compliance with this Protocol. > > 2. Each Party shall exert appropriate efforts, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, to the end that no one engages in any activity contrary to this Protocol. > > 3. Each Party shall notify all other Parties of the measures it takes pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 above. > > 4. Each Party shall draw the attention of all other Parties to any activity which in its opinion affects the implementation of the objectives and principles of this Protocol . > > 5. The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings shall draw the attention of any State which is not a Party to this Protocol to any activity undertaken by that State, its agencies, instrumentalities, natural or juridical persons, ships, aircraft or other means of transport which affects the implementation of the objectives and principles of this Protocol. So that presumably each party to the protocol would be responsible for enforcing it against its own nationals. Without reading through the entire treaty, I’m not sure what sanctions could be brought against someone from a state that is not a party to the protocol. However, in the case of something like introducing polar bears I suspect some legal measure or other pressure could be brought to bear 🙂 on the offending parties. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/18 "2004-12-07T15:11:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > … pressure could be brought to bear 🙂 on the offending parties. Absolutely shameless. I simply can’t bear to read this kind of junk! ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/19 "2004-12-07T15:22:32Z")
> [@Milkman Dan](#): > > Since polar bears can survive in the coldest of the cold temperatures, I don’t imagine that the weather would be a problem. I’m not sure this is a 100% safe assumption. The Antarctic as a whole is considerably colder than the Arctic. However, coastal portions of the Antarctic would probably do just fine for polar bears. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333/20 "2004-12-07T19:47:25Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Some countries take a more proprietary interest in Antarctica than others given it’s proximity to them. I think the Chileans would be all over your ass if they caught you smuggling in polar bears. “Honest, officer, that’s not my polar bear! I don’t KNOW how it got into my pants!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-bears-in-antarctica/278333.md?page=2)