Terrifying images show starving Polar Bear walking on Iceless land

These images will break your heart: a starving and extremely weak polar bear struggles to make his way on an iceless surface while searching for food.

“My entire @Sea_Legacy team was pushing through their tears and emotions while documenting this dying polar bear. It’s a soul-crushing scene that still haunts me,” wrote photographer Paul Nicklen, the man who took the painful photo and video.

The image was highlighted by National Geographic and has quickly gone viral since. The footage perfectly depicts the dangers of climate change.

“I know we need to share both the beautiful and the heartbreaking if we are going to break down the walls of apathy. This is what starvation looks like. The muscles atrophy. No energy. It’s a slow, painful death. When scientists say polar bears will be extinct in the next 100 years, I think of the global population of 25,000 bears dying in this manner,” added Nicklen.

The photographer explains that there are no easy solutions to the problem and says that they could not have done anything for the bear.

Photo by @cristinamittermeier // A few months ago, @PaulNicklen and I documented this heartwrenching scene we posted yesterday—a starving polar bear roaming through an abandoned Inuit camp along the shores of Baffin Island. Though it wasn’t possible for scientists to tell us exactly what had caused this bear to starve to death, we do know that he didn’t have any visible wounds and that he was not an old bear. Many of you have asked whether we could have saved this individual bear, but the hard truth is that he was on his last legs and his muscles had atrophied beyond repair. It would also have been illegal to feed him, to approach him, or to do anything to ease his pain. However, there is hope for the remaining polar bears if we want it. Click the link in our bio to learn more about the solutions available to achieve drawdown—the point where global warming reverses.

A post shared by SeaLegacy #TurningTheTide (@sea_legacy) on Dec 6, 2017 at 10:18am PST

“The simple truth is this—if the Earth continues to warm, we will lose bears and entire polar ecosystems. This large male bear was not old, and he certainly died within hours or days of this moment. But there are solutions. We must reduce our carbon footprint, eat the right food, stop cutting down our forests, and begin putting the Earth—our home—first, wrote Nicklen while asking for help, supporting Sea Legacy.

There are several images and videos of the dying animal taken by both Nicklen and photographer Cristina Mittier Meier, who are part of the Sea Legacy team, an organization dedicated to the conservation of marine life.

According to Meier, the images were captured a few months ago but published only published recently.

Video by @paulnicklen // “This is what a starving—not old—polar bear looks like. The muscles atrophy. They have no energy. It’s a slow, painful death. When scientists say polar bears will be extinct in the next 100 years, I think of 25,000 bears dying like this. There is no band aid solution. The simple truth is this—if the Earth continues to warm, we will lose species. We must reduce our carbon footprint, go vegetarian, stop cutting down our forests, and begin putting the Earth—our home—first.” - @paulnicklen Please join The Tide (link in bio) to follow @sea_legacy’s efforts to continue #turningthetide.

A post shared by SeaLegacy #TurningTheTide (@sea_legacy) on Dec 5, 2017 at 9:06am PST

It did not take long for mayor new outlets to pick up the footage and story and illustrate, like never before, how animals suffer due to climate change.

The video published on Wednesday already accumulated more than a million views and thousands of comments, from people who were left shocked by the images and videos.

On Sea Legacy’s account, we can see more videos of the bear, that Nicklen assures did not have the age to die, and that the Polar Bear could have passed away days or even hours after the encounter.

My entire @Sea_Legacy team was pushing through their tears and emotions while documenting this dying polar bear. It’s a soul-crushing scene that still haunts me, but I know we need to share both the beautiful and the heartbreaking if we are going to break down the walls of apathy. This is what starvation looks like. The muscles atrophy. No energy. It’s a slow, painful death. When scientists say polar bears will be extinct in the next 100 years, I think of the global population of 25,000 bears dying in this manner. There is no band aid solution. There was no saving this individual bear. People think that we can put platforms in the ocean or we can feed the odd starving bear. The simple truth is this—if the Earth continues to warm, we will lose bears and entire polar ecosystems. This large male bear was not old, and he certainly died within hours or days of this moment. But there are solutions. We must reduce our carbon footprint, eat the right food, stop cutting down our forests, and begin putting the Earth—our home—first. Please join us at @sea_legacy as we search for and implement solutions for the oceans and the animals that rely on them—including us humans. Thank you your support in keeping my @sea_legacy team in the field. With @CristinaMittermeier #turningthetide with @Sea_Legacy #bethechange #nature #naturelovers This video is exclusively managed by Caters News. To license or use in a commercial player please contact info@catersnews.com or call +44 121 616 1100 / +1 646 380 1615”

A post shared by Paul Nicklen (@paulnicklen) on Dec 5, 2017 at 8:52am PST

In a social media post, the organization explains that the bear was in very bad condition and that the bear, with extremely atrophied legs, could not have been saved.

“It would also have been illegal to feed him, to approach him or even do anything to alleviate his pain,” they say.