Polar Bears

polar bear mother with her cubs

Scientific Classification

Table of Contents

  1. habitat
  2. diet
  3. naming
  4. life expectancy
  5. swimming
  6. endangerment
  7. sightings

Habitat

Polar bears live around the Arctic Ocean. They also live along the Hudson Bay which is one of the farthest south places they live. Most polar bears live close to land so that they can go to shore when the ice melts in the summer.

polar bear habitat zone

Diet

Polar bears' main food is seals, which they fish through holes in the ice. The bear will wait by the hole for a seal to come up to breathe. When the seal comes up the polar bear will eat it. If the bear is getting enough food it will leave a lot of left overs. For this reason, arctic foxes often follow a bear to eat the bears' left overs. However, if the fox gets too close, the bear might eat it.

Naming

Polar bears are known by many different names around the world. The scientific name for polar bears mean maritime bear. In many countries, it is referred to as a "White Bear". In Norway it is called the "Ice Bear".

Life Expectancy

Polar bears usually only live to their mid twenties. In the wild, bears have lived up to their low thirties. The polar bear that lived the longest was a bear in captivity that lived to the age of 42. In the wild, polar bears usually die from either a fight that gives them injuries or they starve when they become too old to catch food.

Swimming

Polar bears are amazing swimmers. They can swim for miles in freezing cold water and stay under water for up to three minutes at a time. On land polar bears have no predators except their own kind, but in the water killer wales have sometimes killed polar bears.

polar bear swimming

Endangerment

Polar bears are an animal that is considered vulnerable on the endangered species list. They are on the list for a couple of reasons. One reason is that climate change has caused the sea ice to shrink. Another reason is that when polar bears come to shore for the summer, they sometimes eat from garbage dumps. Until recent years, polar bears had not lost that much territory because humans don't live in the arctic.

Hunting

In the past, people that were living a tribal life in the arctic would hunt polar bears for their fur. Examples of these tribal people are the Inuit of Canada. In Russia in the middle ages, the fur was also used for clothing because it could sometimes be cheaper than reindeer or arctic fox furs. As the population in Russia went up, so did the price of polar bear fur. This made arctic fox and reindeer fur cheaper to buy. In all the countries that have polar bears, there are regulations on hunting polar bears.

Sightings

The easiest place to see polar bears is obviously the zoo. However, if you want to see polar bears in the wild, the best place is Churchill, Canada. This is where a lot of the polar bears on the Hudson Bay come for the summer. You can also see polar bears other places in the wild if you are lucky, but it is rare.

polar bear walking polar bear cub

For more info go to the wikipedia article on polar bears