But some polar bears, it seems, are far more resilient than we realized: new research suggests that in one region, the bears are adapting to the declining sea ice. They hypothesized that the Svalbard polar bears’ health would wane over the study period. And of course, it’s hard to know whether the polar bears would be in even better condition if it weren’t for climate change. “With continued monitoring of these and other subpopulations, we will likely learn more about the capabilities of polar bears as a species,” Quakenbush says. Someday the polar bears might hit a tipping point—and with continued sea ice loss, the bears’ condition will eventually decline.