Table 2.
Comparison of food items in polar bear scats from coastal areas of western Hudson Bay, Manitoba, (2006-2008) and Cape Churchill, Cape Henrietta Maria, and the west Pen Island (1968-1969)
| Gormezano & Rockwell (2006-2008) | Russell (1968-1969) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw frequencies | Scat occurrences | Raw frequencies | Scat occurrences | |||
| Taxa | n | % | % | n | % | % |
| Birds | ||||||
| Aves | 122 | 9.9 | 18.0 | 4 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
| Aves – unidentified | 43 | 3.5 | 7.3 | 52 | 9.8 | 24.5 |
| Egg shell/hatching membrane | 27 | 2.2 | 4.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Aves total + eggs | 192 | 15.5 | 28.8 | 56 | 10.6 | 26.4 |
| Mammals | ||||||
| Phocidae | 42 | 3.4 | 7.1 | 20 | 3.8 | 9.4 |
| Ursidae, Ursus maritimus | 32 | 2.6 | 5.4 | 2 | 0.4 | 0.9 |
| Cervidae, Rangifer tarandus | 58 | 4.7 | 9.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Cricetidae | 8 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 42 | 8.0 | 21.7 |
| Mammalia – unidentified | 6 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 4 | 0.7 | 1.9 |
| Mammalia – total | 146 | 11.8 | 24.6 | 68 | 12.9 | 32.1 |
| Grasses | ||||||
| Leymus arenarius | 353 | 28.5 | 59.5 | 87 | 16.5 | 41.0 |
| Other grasses | 57 | 4.6 | 9.6 | 83 | 15.7 | 39.2 |
| Grasses – total | 410 | 33.1 | 63.1 | 170 | 32.2 | 80.2 |
| Marine algae | 294 | 23.8 | 49.6 | 150 | 28.4 | 70.8 |
| Berries | 21 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 6 | 1.1 | 2.8 |
| Mushrooms | 56 | 4.5 | 9.4 | 4 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
| Mosses | 78 | 6.3 | 13.2 | 26 | 4.9 | 12.3 |
| Garbage | 40 | 3.2 | 6.7 | 48 | 9.1 | 17.0 |
Data are presented as the percent frequencies of all food items (n = 1237, n = 528) and the percent scat occurrences (n = 593, n = 212) for the current and past polar bear diets, respectively.