Arctic throwdown

POLAR BEARS aren't just powerful hunters through sheer force; a long oral history from

Inuit, combined with recent observations and analysis, shows they also use tools to kill walruses: striking them over the head with pieces of ice, or hurling rocks at them. “[Polar bears are] the only species we know, that can think...that can have weapon[s]. Like, we know that they can design a... piece of ice, make it round, they can use that to smash walrus head,” said one Inuk hunter from Arctic Bay. Another

Inuk hunter from Qaanaaq said “If mathematicians had measured it, they would be amazed at how perfectly round [the ice ball] was.” The researchers suggest that this hunting behaviour is infrequent and limited to walruses because they are large, difficult to kill and possess their own weapons (their tusks).