The animal confirmed last week to be half polar bear, half grizzly bear is certainly weird, scientists say, but he's not necessarily a symbol of global warming or anything else.

Last week, DNA analysis confirmed that the bear's father was a grizzly and his mother was a polar bear.

The bear's white fur was interspersed with brown patches. He also had long claws, a concave facial profile, and a humped back—all grizzly characteristics.

"It's of interest because it's rare, but that's kind of it," said Rosa Meehan, the chief of marine mammal management with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage, Alaska.

"I don't think there's more to it than that."

Meehan is overseeing a review of how changing environmental conditions