Polar Bears! In a Collage for LMAC#104

For many people in the world, it's Christmas season. @shaka's template picture (shown below) certainly evokes the holiday season. I have seen some beautiful Christmas-themed collages in the LMAC community this week. While I enjoy those collages (have you seen @redheadpei's collage, for example?) I couldn't conjure one. So I thought about what Christmas means to me: love. My collage shows a hunter whose heart softens and who manages to feel love for two bear cubs that are all alone in the wilderness.

As I designed this collage, I thought of @cetb2008, another member of LMAC who often features animals in collages. @cetb2008 has an acute sense of the environment, as can be seen in his collage this week.

Of course each collage in the contest is inspired by the original template. Isn't it beautiful?

Template Photo by @shaka

Polar Bears

Most of us have seen pictures of polar bears on ice floes. It's no secret that their habitat is disappearing, melting. Do polar bears have a future on our planet? Maybe, and maybe not. They certainly have become emblematic of climate change.

Polar Bear on an Ice Floe

Image credit: U. S Navy. 1972 Public domain.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the conservation status of the polar bear is Vulnerable. In 2008, the U. S. listed the bear as a Threatened Species in the Endangered Species Act.

Besides a loss of habitat, and thus food supply, polar bears are threatened by other factors. One of these is that they are straying closer to human populations in the search for food. Also, human populations are encroaching more on polar bear hunting grounds. Encounters with humans often have tragic results, for the humans and the bears.

Polar bears are the largest carnivores that live on land. Their preferred diet is seal. When times are good and food is plentiful, they will only eat seal blubber, because it has the highest calorie content. However, it has been reported that polar bears are increasingly consuming the whole seal. This is considered a sign of food scarcity.

Bearded Seal

Image credit: ja:user:コムケ. Use license, CC 3.0

In Canada, one kind of encounter with bears is entirely avoidable: trophy hunting. The hunting of polar bears is supposed to be strictly regulated according to an international treaty signed in 1976 (Agreement on Conservation of Polar Bears, signed by U. S., Russia, Canada and Greenland). The treaty allows for trophy hunting.

While most polar bears are killed by First Nations hunters (Indigenous People of Canada), whose traditional lifestyle includes the hunting of bears, a certain number of 'sport' kills are allowed. According to the treaty, the non-resident hunter must pay a hefty fee for the privilege of killing a bear and must be led on the hunt by a First Nations guide.

Trade in polar bear 'parts' is restricted and a license is required in order to trade these. Canada is the only country in the world that allows trade of polar bear 'parts'.

Facility in the Beaufort Sea: Petroleum Production

Image credit: Edibobb. Used under CC 3.0 license

A report issued on the site, NWT Species at Risk lists seven threats to the survival of polar bears. The most significant threats, starting at the top of the list: climate change, marine traffic, and pollution. Interactions with humans, including harvesting (hunting) come next. Offshore oil and gas exploration/development follow.

Polar Bears on the Beaufort Sea Coast

Image credit: USFWS. Public domain.

The list ends with invasive research techniques (this includes tagging animals and tracking them by helicopter) and 'competition'. Competition occurs when grizzlies hunt further north (another consequence of climate change) in polar bear country.

My Collage
In my collage I use pictures from the LMAC Image Gallery. The winter background (modified) was contributed by @redheadpei. The warrior and axe were contributed by @quantumg. The dog(s) and sled (modified) were pictures I had contributed. The bears and blue sparkles were taken from @shaka's template photo.

After I had finished my frames for the GIF I wanted to add a little winter atmosphere, so I applied a snow filter from Lunapic. The color was imposed with a GIMP filter. The frames were constructed with both GIMP and Paint3D applications. Paint was also used to resize and reorient some of the pictures.

Readers of today's blog can see that LMAC offers the opportunity to explore our creativity. It is also evident that LMAC offers the opportunity to be part of a vibrant community. Join us.

You may contribute to our image library, which is unique to the Hive platform. You may borrow from the image library. Rules governing Gallery use are explained in this blog by @shaka. You may participate in the collage contest. If you like, you may simply vote each week for your favorite collage. I do not compete in the contest, but every week I create a collage, and I vote.

My thanks to everyone who participates in the community. And also hearty thanks to @shaka for creating this community and for doing all the work required to help it grow.

Finally, thank you readers, for visiting my blog! Health and peace to all.