![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6834584.1714085997!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
While polar bears are known for being worthy opponents in the Arctic, questions remained about how they managed some of their largest kills, such as walruses, and new research shows they employed the use of rock and blocks of ice as weapons.
Oral histories over the course of more than 200 years from Inuit in Northern Canada and in Greenland depict stories of polar bears using tools such as rocks and blocks of ice to kill walruses, according to researchers.
Using these histories and documentation of brown bears using tools in captivity, Canadian zoologist and marine biologist Ian Sterling and colleagues set out to prove that polar bears use tools to hunt.
The study, published in the June edition of the journal Arctic, details various accounts of polar bears using blocks of ice or rocks to bludgeon 1,000 kg walruses to death. It also describes GoGo, a young male polar bear in captivity, who opted to use tools to access meat that was suspended out of his reach.
GoGo used various tools and methods to try to get to the meat, including a branch and a log. He even threw a piece of pipe and a floating device using both front paws to try to knock down the snack.
Brown bears, polar bears' closest relative, have also been documented using tools in captivity, according to the study. While they haven’t been documented using tools to access salmon in a river, they opted for tools to help them get to food just out of their reach, just as GoGo did.
The accounts of polar bears using tools focus mostly on using them as weapons in their hunt. Many of the documented accounts are third-hand.
“The [Inuit] of different tribes widely separated have told me they have watched a bear stalk a young walrus out on the ice, taking advantage of a hummock to get within striking distance, and then hit the walrus over the head with a piece of ice held in one paw,” reads an account by an explorer identified as Munn published in the study.
In one observation used in the study from 1974, a biologist using foot snares speculated that the bears saw his snares and used a rock to set off the trap to get to the bait without getting caught. Sterling and his colleagues suggest that this could indicate that this bear had been captured before and was able to problem solve by using the tool.
While there are recorded accounts and documentation of polar bears in the wild and captivity using tools, the researchers speculate that this remains a rare event and would most likely only be employed for use against walruses.
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
It was evident to the federal government as early as last fall that Loblaw and Walmart might be holdouts to the grocery code of conduct, jeopardizing the project's success.
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
American troops will be spending more time training in the Far North, the new commander of Norad says, a strategy that fits 'hand-in-glove' with Canada's renewed focus on Arctic defence.
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.