This exciting ongoing project will examine the most optimal methods to identify polar bear individuals, sex and kinship from snow. Here we use eDNA from polar bear’s footprints collected in in Alaska and elsewhere to identify polar bear individuals. During 2021 and 2022 new polar bear footprints were collected in the Arctic and processed in MIX laboratories in Sweden and at laboratories in LaJolla, USA.
The preliminary results have been successful. This ongoing project is a close partnership with WWF Arctic Program in Sweden, the WWF-US Arctic Program in Alaska, and their partners.
