A study on how Alaskan polar bears are adapting to melting sea ice suggests that Canada may need to change the way it manages the Arctic predators.

The study found the bears are now spending more time on land or in the open ocean instead of on the sea ice they normally hunt from.

Polar bear expert Andrew Derocher says the evidence that bears are changing their ways means scientists should reconsider the way they count them.

Derocher says bears are wandering between populations more than previously thought.

Inuit groups say they've maintained all along that the overall population of bears in Canada has remained stable.