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Pictures of polar bears struggling to stay on the ice are often used by groups that want to protect these lovely animals and their natural habitats. However, part of the solution lies with polar bears themselves.

Polar bears are highly specialized. This means that they have got used to living in specific areas and eating specific food. Polar bears live above the Arctic Circle and eat fish and arctic mammals such as seals. Their bodies are different from those of other type of bears. Polar bears have webbed feet for swimming, thicker fur and more body fat for living and swimming in cold conditions, and light-coloured fur to help them mix with the environment. As a result, polar bears do not do well when they are in non-arctic area. They cannot run as fast as other bears, they can become hot and tired easily, and they have a hard time hunting animals that are not in the snow.

Unfortunately for polar bears, climate change is reducing the size of the areas where they can live. This means that they will eventually have to leave the Arctic and travel farther south. However, as they are so specialized, it is unlikely that polar bears will be able to live as they once did.

Other creatures, such as crocodiles or cockroaches, are not nearly as specialized. They live on almost every continent and in a wide variety of climates. In fact, crocodiles are one of the most adaptable animals on the earth and have survived for millions of years. When animals specialize, they often do better than less specialized species in the same place, but if the climate or other conditions change, the specialized animals are usually the first to die off.

If polar bears are going to survive the next 100 years, they will have to adapt. Most scientists believe that polar bears may eventually cross paths with brown bears and black bears. Whether these animals fight it out or fall in love to create new generations of hybrid bears remains to be seen. No matter how it happens, they believe that polar bears will live far in the future.