Polar bear starving to death on iceless land caught on video

Polar bears making do with a small heap of ice as sea levels rise has been used to illustrate the effects of climate change for decades, but new footage captured by Paul Nicklen showed a more desperate situation.

At Baffin Islands in Canada, he saw an emaciated polar bear — starving and quite possibly near death.

According to a report by National Geographic published on December 7, Nicklen focused his lens on the bear "because he didn't want it to die in vain."

"When scientists say bears are going extinct, I want people to realize what it looks like. Bears are going to starve to death," Nicklen was quoted as saying. "This is what a starving bear looks like."

Within a day of posting, the video was viewed over 7 million times. Many asked why Nicklen did nothing to help. 

Even if he wanted to help it, Nicklen did not have a tranquilizer gun or seal meat with him. Feeding wild polar bears is also illegal in Canada. 

Melting sea ice continues to be a threat to polar bears. The lack of icy hunting ground has led to longer fasting season and many starve, just like the polar bear Nicklen encountered. — AT, GMA News