A grizzly–polar bear hybrid (also named grolar bear, pizzly bear, zebra bear, grizzlar, or nanulak) is a rare ursid hybrid that has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid in nature was confirmed by testing the DNA of a unique-looking bear that had been shot near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, on Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic. The number of confirmed hybrids has since risen to eight, all of them descending from the same female polar bear. Possible wild-bred polar bear-grizzly bear hybrids have been reported and shot in the past, but DNA tests were not available to verify the bears' ancestry. Genetic analysis has revealed multiple instances of introgressive hybridization between bear species, including introgression of polar bear DNA into brown bears during the Pleistocene ("grizzly bear" is a local common name for Ursus arctos whereas "brown bear" is used internationally and in science to refer to the species as a whole). Occurrences in the wild With several suspected sightings and eight confirmed cases, theories of how such hybrids might naturally occur have become more than hypothetical. Although these sister species often occupy adjacent regions, direct contact has not been the norm because polar bears hunt, breed, and sometimes even make maternity dens on sea ice, where brown bears have an overwhelmingly terrestrial lifestyle. Scientists have been unable to give an exact explanation for the phenomenon. One theory suggests that as the grizzly population increases, male bears leave their dens sooner while females stay with their cubs. This means that to the male grizzles, female polar bears have become viable mates. This is the main speculated reason for the fact that hybrids have been reported to have grizzly fathers and polar mothers. Scientists have also hypothesized this may also be a climate change issue. As winters begin to get shorter, grizzlies begin to move more frequently expanding their territory. This expansion in territory has also changed what these grizzles are eating. With the lack of berries, salmon, and natural vegetation in the Arctic, grizzlies have been seen hunting seals, which are a common prey for polar bears. This close proximity while hunting is another proposed explanation for the hybridization. 2006 discovery Jim Martell, a hunter from Idaho, reportedly shot a grizzly–polar bear hybrid near Sachs Harbour on Banks Island, Northwest Territories on April 16, 2006. Martell, with his local guide, Roger