Green Daily

If grizzly bears keep getting forced further north by the adverse affects of climate change, scientists say that we may see more and more grolar bears - hybrid offspring of the polar bear and the grizzly. (What was wrong with "pizzly"? I think I would have chosen that over "grolar.")

Mixed polar/grizzly bears have already been spotted, namely one which a hunter killed in April 2006. The unfortunate bear, which biologists said must have been a hybrid offspring of a male grizzly and a female polar bear, was confirmed by DNA tests to carry genetic material from both types. The bear was mainly white, with a few fuzzy brown patches. (Next up: a kids' book which explores how the poor grolar bear is an outcast at his school, because he's different...)

Some point out that at least if polar and grizzly bears mate, we won't end up losing polar bear DNA altogether - a serious threat if the ice that supports polar habitats disappears, as it well may. That seems to me to be a major case of straining to see the silver lining...

Via ENN