Editing Polar bear (section)

===Conflicts===
{{further information|Bear danger|Bear attack}}
[[File:Polar-Bear-Warning-Longyearbyen.jpg|thumb|right|Road sign warning about the presence of polar bears. The Norwegian text translates into "Applies to all of Svalbard".]]
When the sea ice melts, polar bears, particularly subadults, conflict with humans over resources on land.<ref name=Heenskerk2020>{{cite journal|last1=Heemskerk|first1=S.|last2=Johnson|first2=A. C.|last3=Hedman|first3=D.|last4=Trim|first4=V.|last5=Lunn|first5=N. J.|last6=McGeachy|first6=D.|last7=Derocher|first7=A. E.|year=2020|title=Temporal dynamics of human-polar bear conflicts in Churchill, Manitoba|journal=Global Ecology and Conservation|volume=24|page=e01320|doi=10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01320|s2cid=225123070|doi-access=free|bibcode=2020GEcoC..2401320H }}</ref> They are attracted to the smell of human-made foods, particularly at garbage dumps and may be shot when they encroach on private property.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Clark|first1=D. A.|last2=van Beest|first2=F. M.|last3=Brook|first3=R. K.|year=2012|title=Polar Bear-human conflicts: state of knowledge and research needs|journal=Canadian Wildlife Biology and Management|volume=1|issue=1|pages=21–29|url=https://cwbm.ca/polar-bear-human-conflicts-state-of-knowledge-and-research-needs/}}</ref> In [[Churchill, Manitoba]], local authorities maintain a "[[polar bear jail]]" where nuisance bears are held until the sea ice freezes again.<ref>{{cite web |title=Inside Canada's polar bear 'jail' where bears go without food and are kept behind bars — but it's not what you might think |date=13 May 2023 |first=Crystal |last=Raypole |website=Business Insider |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-polar-bear-jail-churchill-canada-holding-facility-2023-5|access-date=3 September 2023}}</ref> Climate change has increased conflicts between the two species.<ref name=Heenskerk2020/> Over 50 polar bears [[2019 mass invasion of Russian polar bears|swarmed a town]] in Novaya Zemlya in February 2019, leading local authorities to declare a state of emergency.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stanley-Becker |first1=Isaac |title=A 'mass invasion' of polar bears is terrorizing an island town. Climate change is to blame. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/02/11/mass-invasion-polar-bears-is-terrorizing-an-island-town-climate-change-is-blame/?noredirect=on |access-date=14 February 2019 |agency=washingtonpost |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=11 February 2019}}</ref>

From 1870 to 2014, there were an estimated 73 polar bear attacks on humans, which led to 20 deaths. The majority of attacks were by hungry males, typically subadults, while female attacks were usually in defence of the young. In comparison to brown and American black bears, attacks by polar bears were more often near and around where humans lived. This may be due to the bears getting desperate for food and thus more likely to seek out human settlements. As with the other two bear species, polar bears are unlikely to target more than two people at once. Though popularly thought of as the most dangerous bear, the polar bear is no more aggressive to humans than other species.<ref name=Wilder2017>{{cite journal|last1=Wilder|first1=J. M.|last2=Vongraven|first2=D.|last3=Atwood|first3=T.|last4=Hansen|first4=B.|last5=Jessen|first5=A.|last6=Kochnev|first6=A.|last7=York|first7=G.|last8=Vallender|first8=R.|last9=Hedman|first9=D.|last10=Gibbons|first10=M.|year=2017|title=Polar bear attacks on humans: implications of a changing climate|journal=Wildlife Society Bulletin|volume=41|issue=3|pages=537−547|doi=10.1002/wsb.783|bibcode=2017WSBu...41..537W }}</ref>