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What do you call a polar bear?
Polar bear, (Ursus maritimus), also called the white bear, sea bear, or ice bear, great white northern bear (family Ursidae) found throughout the Arctic region. If we call a polar bear, Threatened, Endangered,
Overhyped or Overprotected. It totally depends on where you're standing.
Polar bears are largely found in the Northern Pole, white bear that like cold climate, fatty meal (Seals). No matter how adorable polar bears look, these animals are not cuddly in fact, polar bears are ferocious hunters. the polar bear is the largest and most powerful carnivore on land. It has no natural predators and knows no fear of humans, making it an extremely dangerous animal.
Habitat
Polar bears live in countries that ring the Arctic Circle: Canada, Russia, the United States (in Alaska), Greenland and Norway. In the winter, temperatures in the Arctic are usually around minus 29 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34 degrees Celsius) and can reach as low as minus 92 F (minus 69 C). The temperature of the water is frigid, as well, reaching as low as 28 F (minus 2 C), the freezing point of seawater, according to PBS Nature.
Polar bears are excellent swimmers they use their big front feet to paddle and their back legs as rudders. These bears have been known to swim more than 60 miles (100 km) without rest.
Size & Appearance
Polar bears are the largest species of bear. For bears, height is usually measured at the shoulder when the animal is on all fours, according to Polar Bear International. On average, polar bears on all fours are 3.5 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) tall, but when standing on its hind legs, an adult male polar bear may reach more than 10 feet (3 m). Lengthwise, they are 7.25 to 8 feet (2.2 to 2.5 m) from head to rump. Their tail adds another 3 to 5 inches (7.5 to 12.5 centimetres).
An adult male polar bear weighs around 775 to 1,200 lbs. (351 to 544 kilograms). The largest polar bear recorded weighed 2,209 pounds (1,000 kg), according to Polar Bear International. Females weigh half as much as their male counterparts, at only or 330 to 650 lbs. (50 to 295 kg).
Polar bears appear to be white, but their hair is actually transparent the white results from light being refracted through the clear hair strands. The bears can also be yellowish in the summer due to oxidation, or may even appear brown or grey, depending on the season and light conditions. Polar bear skin is black it absorbs the heat of the sun to keep the animals warm.
Habits
Polar bears will spend its days sitting on the ice nearby a seal breathing hole, waiting for one to pop up. This style of hunting is called still-hunting. Polar bears will also seek out seal lairs, crash through the roof and kill the seals inside.
Unlike other bears, polar bears do not hibernate in the winter they continue to hunt unless the weather is extremely cold. Then they may seek shelter in a snow den.
Diet
The polar bear's primary and favourite food source is seals. Their diet of meat makes them carnivores. If the food supply is plentiful, they will only eat seal blubber. This high-calorie meal helps the bears build up fat reserves, which keep polar bears healthy between feedings and help maintain their body temperature. According to PBS Nature, polar bears need 4.4 lbs (2 kg) of fat each day. This is equal to about 121 lbs. of seal (55 kg) and provides about eight days' worth of energy.
If seal hunting isn't going well, polar bears will also eat anything they can find, such as fish, eggs, vegetation, reindeer, rodents, birds, berries and human garbage.
Offspring
Females usually give birth during the months of November or December, after a gestation of eight months. In preparation, the animals dig a cave from a snowbank in which to have their cubs. This cave is called a maternity den.
A female polar bear typically gives birth to twins, though singles and triplets have been recorded. At birth, a cub weighs only 1.3 pounds (about half a kilogram), but they grow very quickly. Cubs depend on their mothers for warmth and fattening milk, which is 36% fat, according to the San Diego Zoo. By spring, the cubs are outside the den, exploring, and at two years of age, they are fully mature. Polar bears live around 15 to 20 years.
Facts
- Their fat not only keeps polar bears warm, but it also increases their buoyancy when they swim.
- Polar bears have built-in socks. The bottoms of their paws are covered with fur to keep them warm and to help with traction in slippery situations.
- Polar bears can sniff out seals their main food from up to 1 km (0.6 miles) away and even under 1m (3 ft) of snow. Polar bears clean themselves by rolling in the snow. They’re quick on their feet.
- Polar bears succeed in catching their prey in only 2 per cent of their attempts.
- Climate change is causing sea-ice to melt earlier and forming later each year, which means that polar bears have less time to hunt on top of the sea-ice.
- The Sami (or Lapp) people refuse to say the polar bear's name for fear of offending it. Instead, they call it "God's dog" or "old man in the fur cloak," according to Polar Bears International.
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