Avian flu detected in polar bear in Alaska
Wildlife officials in Alaska have confirmed the first known case of a polar bear that died from avian flu — highlighting growing concerns about the virus's potential spread among northern mammals.
![Avian flu detected in polar bear in Alaska](https://i.cbc.ca/1.2851220.1704407832!/cpImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/polar-bears.jpg)
![This handout photo provided by the US Geological Survey, taken in 2005, shows a male polar bear approaching biologists in Beaufort Sea, Alaska. A new U.S.-Canada study says a key polar bear population fell nearly in half in the past decade, with scientists seeing a dramatic increase in young cubs dying. Researchers chiefly blame shrinking sea ice from global warming. Scientists from the US Geological Survey and Environment Canada tagged and released polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea from 2001 to 2010. The bear population shrank to about 900 in 2010, down from about 1600 in 2004. (AP Photo/Steven C. Amstrup, USGS) A polar bear walking on the sea ice.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.2851220.1704407832!/cpImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/polar-bears.jpg)
Wildlife officials in Alaska have confirmed the first known case of a polar bear that died from avian flu — highlighting growing concerns about the virus's potential spread among northern mammals.