Dragging an injured leg and looking thin and exhausted, the polar bear looks to be close to death as she was pictured by nature photographer Kerstin Langenberger.
Taken in Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean, the image depicts the hardships faced by the bears while they struggle to find food in a changing landscape.
German Kerstin adds that the shrinking sea ice is making it harder for polar bears to find food - meaning that the females, who stay behind to look after the young, face starvation while they wait for the males.
The female apparently hurt her leg while hunting a walrus, with Kerstin describing her as a ‘mere skeleton’ of the normal, plump polar bears we are used to seeing.
However, despite Langenberger’s assertions that global warming was partly to blame for the polar bear’s plight, polar bear researcher Ian Stirling said we should be careful about drawing such conclusions straightway.
‘It may be starting, but it may just be old’ he said.
‘A difficulty hunting could be involved…I don’t think you can tie that one to starvation because of lack of sea ice.’
Find out more about the difficulties Polar Bears face and see what you can do to help here.