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New 'burr-in-fur' tracking devices enhance monitoring of subadult and adult male polar bears, offering a less invasive alternative to traditional collars and expanding research capabilities to previously difficult-to-track populations. A project led by a team of researchers at the University of York, with participation from 3M and Polar Bears International, presents the first field research deploying fur tracking tags, a less invasive method, on polar bears; the report is published today, Arctic Sea Ice Day.

新的"毛刺"跟踪装置加强了对亚成体和成年雄性北极熊的监测，提供了一种比传统项圈更不具侵入性的替代方法，并将研究能力扩展到以前难以跟踪的群体。约克大学领导的一个研究小组以及 3M 公司和北极熊国际组织参与的一个项目介绍了首次在北极熊身上部署皮毛跟踪标签的实地研究，这是一种侵入性较小的方法；该报告于今天，也就是北极海冰日发表。

The new "burr in the hair" trackers confirm what scientists have been saying: subadult and adult male polar bears spend most of their time hanging out on land, conserving energy until the ice recovers.

新的"毛刺"追踪器证实了科学家们的看法，即亚成体和成年雄性北极熊的大部分时间都在陆地上闲逛，保存能量，直到冰层恢复。

A multi-institutional research team led by York University and including the University of Alberta, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Sustainability Manitoba, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and Polar Bears International used three different "burr-on-fur" prototypes to study their effectiveness.

由约克大学牵头，包括阿尔伯塔大学、加拿大环境与气候变化部、马尼托巴省可持续发展部、安大略省自然资源和林业部以及北极熊国际组织在内的一个多机构研究小组使用了三种不同的"毛皮上的毛刺"原型来研究它们的有效性。

Studying polar bears is a difficult task because current radio collars only work on females, thus missing a portion of the population, but the new technology gives researchers a new tool to confirm the behavior of adult male polar bears as they wait on land for the ice to form again.

研究北极熊是一项艰巨的任务，因为目前的无线电项圈只适用于雌性北极熊，因此会遗漏一部分种群，但新技术为研究人员提供了一种新工具，可以确认成年雄性北极熊在陆地上等待冰层再次形成时的行为。

For years, efforts have been made to develop less-invasive tracking methods and tools that are effective for polar bears of both sexes and of nearly all ages, but with varying success. Collars have been, and still are, the mainstay for studying polar bear activity. More recently, ear tag transmitters have been used as a lighter-weight alternative. While both technologies play an important role in helping study and conserve polar bears, researchers are continually working to develop methods that minimize harm while still providing high-quality data.

多年来，人们一直在努力开发对北极熊（包括雌雄北极熊和几乎所有年龄段的北极熊）都有效的低侵入性追踪方法和工具，但取得的成功却不尽相同。项圈一直是研究北极熊活动的主要手段，现在也依然如此。最近，耳标发射器被用作一种重量更轻的替代品。虽然这两种技术在帮助研究和保护北极熊方面都发挥着重要作用，但研究人员仍在不断努力开发既能最小化伤害又能提供高质量数据的方法。

This led to a new tracking program called "Burrs on Fur," which began as a challenge from Polar Bears International to scientists at 3M, the global science and manufacturing company behind the Post-it Note, to create a temporary, easy way to attach small tracking devices to the fur of polar bears. Three "Burrs on Fur" prototypes were recently tested against traditional ear tag transmitters on wild polar bears along the Hudson Bay coast of Canada.

这导致了一项名为"毛刺"的新追踪计划，该计划最初是由国际北极熊组织向 3M 公司的科学家们提出的一项挑战。3M 公司是一家全球性的科学和制造公司，是便利贴的幕后推手，他们的挑战是创造一种临时、简单的方法，将小型追踪装置粘贴到北极熊的毛皮上。最近，在加拿大哈德逊湾沿岸的野生北极熊身上测试了三个毛刺原型与传统的耳标发射器。

Comparison of new and traditional tracking devices

新型与传统追踪设备的比较

The ear tags and "burr in the fur" devices fill an important gap for scientists and wildlife managers. The new tags allow researchers to track the movements of adult male polar bears and sub-adult polar bears, two groups that cannot be studied with traditional satellite collars. Adult male polar bears cannot be collared because they would slip off their conical necks and heads, and sub-adult polar bears grow too fast for collars to be safely used. Traditional ear tags are an alternative to collars. However, such ear tags currently require recapture to remove, and, while rare, can cause damage to the ears. The new burr tags are designed to be temporary, minimally invasive, and can be used on polar bears of both sexes and of nearly all ages.

耳标和毛刺装置为科学家和野生动物管理人员填补了一个重要的空白。新标签使研究人员能够跟踪成年雄性北极熊和亚成年北极熊的行动，而传统的卫星项圈无法对这两个群体进行研究。成年雄性北极熊无法佩戴项圈，因为项圈会从它们圆锥形的脖子和头部滑落，而亚成体北极熊生长速度太快，无法安全使用项圈。传统的耳标是项圈的替代品。但是，目前这种耳标需要重新捕获才能取下，而且虽然很少见，但可能会对耳朵造成伤害。新的毛刺标签设计为临时性、微创性，可用于男女北极熊和几乎所有年龄段的北极熊。

"Successful attachment of telemetry tags to polar bear fur has never been done before, and we are excited to share the results of this innovative work," said Tyler Ross, a researcher at York University and first author of the paper. "Fur tags show great promise, giving researchers the ability to study the behavior and movements of polar bears for which we have little data, such as subadults and adult males."

"在北极熊皮毛上成功粘贴遥测标签的工作以前从未有过，我们很高兴能与大家分享这项创新工作的成果，"论文第一作者、约克大学研究员泰勒-罗斯说，"皮毛标签显示出了巨大的前景，让研究人员有能力研究我们几乎没有数据的北极熊的行为和运动，比如亚成熊和成年雄性北极熊。"

Field testing of innovative tracking technology

创新追踪技术的实地测试

The researchers tagged 58 wild bears using ear tags and three different fur tag designs to compare how long the tags remained active on the bears and the accuracy of the trackers. The three fur tags were used in conjunction with traditional ear tags that rely on Argos transmitters:

研究人员使用耳标和三种不同的毛皮标签设计对 58 头野生北极熊进行了标记，以比较标签在北极熊身上保持激活状态的时间长短以及追踪器的准确性。这三种毛皮标签与依靠 Argos 发射器的传统耳标同时使用：

The research was conducted from fall 2016 to 2021, with researchers from the Polar Bear alx Program and the University of Alberta handling polar bears near Churchill, Canada, and researchers from Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, York University and Manitoba Sustainability conducting supplemental operations near the Manitoba-Ontario border in 2021-2022.

研究于2016年秋季至2021年进行，北极熊警报计划和阿尔伯塔大学的研究人员在加拿大丘吉尔附近处理北极熊，加拿大环境和气候变化部、安大略省自然资源和林业部、约克大学和马尼托巴省可持续发展部的研究人员于2021年至2022年在马尼托巴省和安大略省边界附近进行补充操作。

New Label Results and Performance Analysis

新标签的结果和性能分析
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"Our findings are an important step toward better understanding the movements and behavior of polar bears, especially adult males, which are difficult to track because they cannot be fitted with satellite collars," said co-author Gregory Thiemann, associate professor and coordinator of sustainable environmental management at York University. "Temporary fur tags can also help track the whereabouts of polar bears that have been relocated after potential conflicts with humans, making these tags an important tool for protecting polar bears and keeping northern communities safe."

"我们的研究成果是更好地了解北极熊，尤其是成年雄性北极熊的行动和行为的重要一步，因为雄性北极熊无法安装卫星项圈，所以很难对其进行追踪。"报告的共同作者、约克大学副教授兼可持续环境管理协调员格雷戈里-蒂曼说："临时性的毛皮标签还有助于追踪可能与人类发生冲突后被重新安置的北极熊的行踪，使这些标签成为保护北极熊和确保北方社区安全的重要工具。"

The top performing fur tag was the SeaTrkr tag, which had an average attachment time of 58 days and better accuracy due to its use of GPS/Iridium technology. In second place was the Trishbrush tag, which had an average attachment time of 47 days. However, the duration of the Tribrush tags varied greatly, with one tag falling off after just two days, while another lasted 114 days, the longest of all the tags.

表现最出色的毛皮标签是 SeaTrkr 标签，由于使用了 GPS/铱星技术，平均附着时间为 58 天，而且准确性更高。排在第二位的是 Trishbrush 标签，平均附着时间为 47 天。不过，Tribrush 标签的使用时间差别很大，其中一个标签仅使用了两天就脱落了，而另一个标签则使用了 114 天，是所有标签中使用时间最长的。

Because the ear tags are securely attached to the polar bears' ears, traditional ear tags lasted an average of 137 days, while the shorter-term fur-based trackers proved to be reliable for shorter periods of time. The fur tags proved very useful for monitoring polar bear behavior and show great promise for future tracking of polar bears, especially those that must be relocated because they live too close to communities. Through Polar Bears International's zoo and aquarium partners at the Arctic Ambassadors Centre, researchers are conducting further testing and improvements on polar bears in zoos and aquariums to further refine the design and see how they perform across seasons. In the most recent round of zoo testing, the improved tags stayed on the bears for 75 days.

由于耳标牢固地贴在北极熊的耳朵上，传统的耳标平均可保持 137 天，而基于毛皮的短期追踪器被证明在更短的时间内是可靠的。事实证明，毛皮标签对监测北极熊的行为非常有用，并显示出未来用于追踪北极熊的巨大前景，尤其是那些因过于接近社区而必须重新安置的北极熊。通过北极熊国际组织北极大使中心的动物园和水族馆合作伙伴，研究人员正在对动物园和水族馆中的北极熊进行进一步的测试和改进，以便进一步完善设计，了解它们在不同季节的表现。在最近一轮动物园测试中，经过改进的标签在熊身上停留了 75 天。

Key statistics for male and subadult polar bears

雄性和亚成体北极熊的重要数据

The new data add to our understanding of the movements and behavior of subadult and adult male polar bears, which have historically been understudied due to the inability to safely collar them for long periods of time. The findings confirm that adult and subadult male polar bears are less active on land, which is consistent with previous studies showing that polar bears spend approximately 70% to 90% of their time resting during the ice-free period in Hudson Bay.

新数据加深了我们对亚成体和成年雄性北极熊的运动和行为的了解，由于无法长时间安全地为它们套上项圈，我们对它们的研究历来不足。研究结果证实，成年和亚成年雄性北极熊在陆地上会减少活动，这与之前的研究结果一致，之前的研究表明，在哈得逊湾无冰期，北极熊大约有 70% 到 90% 的时间都在休息。

Impact on wildlife management

对野生动物管理的影响

While ear tags stay on bears longer, this temporary and easy-to-apply fur tag provides scientists with a new tool for enhanced tracking of bears for the purposes of applied research and management of human-bear interactions. This tracking technology could be applied to other types of bears to support efforts to reduce human-bear conflict, and future applications may include testing on other fur-bearing species. While traditional tracking methods such as collars will remain critical for long-term research, fur tags will prove to be a valuable tool, especially as the climate warms, for understanding and managing the increasing interactions between wildlife and people.

虽然耳标贴在北极熊身上的时间更长，但这种临时且易于粘贴的毛皮标签为科学家们提供了一种新的工具，用于加强对北极熊的追踪，以达到应用研究和管理人熊互动的目的。这种追踪技术可以应用于其他类型的熊，为减少人熊冲突提供支持，未来的应用可能包括在其他有毛皮的物种上进行测试。虽然项圈等传统追踪方法对于长期研究仍然至关重要，但毛皮标签将被证明是一种宝贵的工具，尤其是在气候变暖时，对于了解和管理野生动物与人类之间日益增加的互动而言。

July 15 is Arctic Sea Ice Day, an annual event initiated by Polar Bears International to spark action and dialogue about the rapid melting of Arctic ecosystems, its global significance and how people can help slow this warming trend. Currently, the Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the Earth, causing sea ice to melt, which in turn forces polar bears to fast longer on land.

7月15日是北极海冰日，这是国际北极熊组织发起的一年一度的活动，目的是引发有关北极生态系统迅速融化的行动和对话，包括其全球意义以及人们如何帮助减缓这一变暖趋势。目前，北极变暖的速度比地球其他地区快近四倍，导致海冰融化，从而使北极熊在陆地上禁食的时间更长。