It is very likely that hybrids of polar and brown bears may appear in the north of Yakutia.

It's all due to climate change and shrinking habitat - it begins to overlap in the two species. Hybrid bears have already been found in Canada, TASS reported.

One of the first encounters with a hybrid was documented in Canada in 2006. Hunters encountered a strange white bear with brown spots and an unusually shaped muzzle. The animal was shot and killed. DNA analysis showed that it was a hybrid of a polar bear and a grizzly.

Canadian scientists have found that due to the reduction of sea ice, the hunting grounds of polar bears are decreasing. At the same time, because of warming, the grizzly's range is expanding northward. As a result, the habitat for the species is beginning to overlap.

Polar bears are the largest land-based predators, although they spend most of their lives at sea among drifting ice. The animals are listed in the International Red List - up to 31,000 individuals remain.

Every year there are fewer and fewer polar bears due to poaching, melting ice, and Arctic pollution. Scientists believe that they may disappear altogether by the end of the century.