Vídeo de urso polar a morrer à fome está a comover as redes sociais

O vídeo de um urso polar selvagem a morrer a vaguear num local seco à procura de alimentos tornou-se viral.

Nas imagens, captadas na Ilha de Baffin, no norte do Canadá, o urso polar ergue-se lentamente. Caminha depois à procura de comida. Quando não encontra nada cai no chão.

O fotógrafo canadiano Paul Nicklen, que gravou a cena com o grupo de conservação da natureza Sea Legacy, disse à National Geographic: “Nós ficamos ali em lágrimas. Filmámos com lágrimas a escorrer pela cara”.

My heart breaks when I see this photo. We cried as we filmed this dying bear. This is the face of climate change. A polar bear struggles to stand in his final days on the planet. We traveled to the Arctic with @sea_legacy in August and saw both healthy bears and starving bears. As climate change accelerates, we will see less of the former and more of the latter. It’s a heartbreaking reality of our current lifestyle. Please join us at @sea_legacy where we are #turningthetide for the oceans and climate change. Each and every one of us must act now. No one will fix this for us.

Uma publicação partilhada por Cristina Mittermeier (@cristinamittermeier) a Dez 5, 2017 às 8:58 PST

O urso provavelmente terá morrido “passadas horas, ou dias, deste momento”, e não havia nada que Nicklen pudesse ter feito para salvá-lo, revelou o fotógrafo no Instagram.

Alimentar ursos polares selvagens é ilegal no Canadá, e mesmo que não fosse, alimentar o urso só prolongaria a sua miséria, disse Paul Nicklen à National Geographic.

Para o fotógrafo, apesar de chocante, este vídeo deve correr o mundo, para alertar todos para as alterações climáticas.

My entire @Sea_Legacy team was pushing through their tears and emotions while documenting this dying polar bear. It’s a soul-crushing scene that still haunts me, but I know we need to share both the beautiful and the heartbreaking if we are going to break down the walls of apathy. This is what starvation looks like. The muscles atrophy. No energy. It’s a slow, painful death. When scientists say polar bears will be extinct in the next 100 years, I think of the global population of 25,000 bears dying in this manner. There is no band aid solution. There was no saving this individual bear. People think that we can put platforms in the ocean or we can feed the odd starving bear. The simple truth is this—if the Earth continues to warm, we will lose bears and entire polar ecosystems. This large male bear was not old, and he certainly died within hours or days of this moment. But there are solutions. We must reduce our carbon footprint, eat the right food, stop cutting down our forests, and begin putting the Earth—our home—first. Please join us at @sea_legacy as we search for and implement solutions for the oceans and the animals that rely on them—including us humans. Thank you your support in keeping my @sea_legacy team in the field. With @CristinaMittermeier #turningthetide with @Sea_Legacy #bethechange #nature #naturelovers This video is exclusively managed by Caters News. To license or use in a commercial player please contact [email protected] or call +44 121 616 1100 / +1 646 380 1615”

Uma publicação partilhada por Paul Nicklen (@paulnicklen) a Dez 5, 2017 às 8:52 PST