Polar Bear Facts

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  • Do Polar Bears Eat Whales?

    A part from ringed seals polar bears also consume bigger prey animals such as whales. But they do not seem to actively hunt live whales (may be they do but very few evidences are there to support the argument). Depends on the location ice bears love to feed on whale carcasses. In the Western Hudson Bay, Beaufort Sea, and the Davis Strait the bear has a varied diet. In these Canadian arctic regions, bears often smell whale carcasses miles away and begin feed in groups. This is quite unique behavior almost contrary what many believe that polar bears are lone feeders. While they wander alone for days across the polar ice polar bears mostly eat bigger meal such as whale carcasses in groups of three to four individuals.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Whales?

    Yes they probably do! In Kaktovik researchers found out that a group of 3 – 4 polar bears were feeding on a dead carcass of a beluga whale just like the scavengers in the African savannah. Thanks to their sharp canines with the help of which bears can rip off chunks of whale’s flesh. Every year in the Hudson Bay as many as 20 beluga whales are trapped in the sea ice. Polar bears know it—know it all too well. They smash the 2-feet thick ice with their powerful forepaws and kill the whales. Minutes later they will drag the whale out of water to take ashore.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Bowhead Whales?

    Yes! Polar bears eat bowhead whales. Many a times it happens that a bear drags a 10-meter bowhead whale off the shore and only in few hours’ time the arctic predator enjoys the taste of thick skin together with the whale’s blubber. The Inupiat of Kaktovik hunts whales every fall the remains of which are left on the edge of town for polar bears to consume. The authorities have allowed natives to hunt only 3 whales each season. This can provide the carcass meal to the adult polar bears that are too old to hunt seals.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Sperm Whales?

    Andrew Derocher, a biologist saw polar bears feeding on carcass of a sperm whale in the Svalbard. Sperm whales are usually found in the North Atlantic waters but they possibly traveled north to find food.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Whales? – Video

  • Do Polar Bears Eat Penguins? – Why Don’t Polar Bears Eat Penguins?

    Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are highly opportunistic feeders in that they will consume just about anything in the Arctic. That’s right! Nearly all living organisms in the arctic are likely to fall prey to polar bears. But penguins don’t live in the arctic do they? They occur in the Antarctic which lies at the South Pole whereas polar bears live in the North Pole. Arctic is located exactly opposite to the Antarctic. Perhaps it’s time to see why don’t polar bears eat penguins.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Penguins?

    There is virtually no comparison between the two species living far off from each other. The freezing weather of the arctic and Antarctica is what makes people confuse regarding the dietary behavior of animals. It’s a myth that polar bears eat penguins but they would if they had lived in the same habitat.

    No penguin lives in the arctic and the odds are that polar bears probably never saw one in their life. However if penguins had occurred in the North Pole than they would certainly become (though not essential) part of the polar bear’s diet. Since white bears fancy eating seals because of the seal’s fatty components which they need during winter penguins don’t seem to offer any such fatty component. Thus even if bears prey on penguins this can never replace their essential prey (seal). But polar bears could supplement their diet with some penguins. Nonetheless it doesn’t stand to any logic for polar bears and penguins might never see each other.

    Having said that, scientists do believe and few of them witnessed it that an isolated population of a penguin has begun to live in the north of the equator. Still much to prove regarding the statement. Arctic waters do not appear to provide suitable habitat for penguins. Besides, unlike polar bears penguins might not be able to swim in warm waters.

    Adult bears are fond of eating only the blubber of ringed seal (leaving the meat for the young bears) because the blubber not only gives them thousands of calories but it also provides fats so that the bear may spend days in fasting. No such component occurs in penguins. They are simply birds. Polar bears (if at all) eat penguins only when the primary diet is scarce. But penguins do not make up the ecosystem of the arctic.

    Yet another reason as to why polar bears would not have preferred to prey on penguins is that birds such as this cannot provide sufficient protein for young bears to survive the frigid arctic weather.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Penguins? – Video

  • Do Polar Bears Eat Fish? | Do Polar Bears Eat Salmon?

    Yes and probably no! Polar bears always prefer to hunt bigger animals such as seals or walruses. However during warmer months when the ice retreats and they are unable to hunt marine animals, polar bears fancy eating fish as their alternative food. Apart from that polar bears, unlike brown bears, do not often rely on fish for their daily consumption. Let us find out what type of fish do polar bears eat.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Fish?

    Unlike brown bears, polar bears do not usually eat fish. Brown bears are experts in catching fish. They just stand on rocks and as the fish jumps the bear grabs it with her jaws. Polar bears do not appear to possess any such technique and also the arctic is different from Alaska. But the question is; do polar bears need to catch fish like brown bears do when they spend most of their time in swimming? Certainly not! All they need is to swim and follow their traditional prey to supplement their diet.

    Over the past few years prolonged summers and short winters have forced polar bears to search for alternate prey. Therefore in the eastern Greenland and southern Svalbard polar bears are seen capturing fish. This is a tough ask for polar bears especially if the ice breaks. They need ice not only to hunt seals but also to catch fish.

    But if the prey is not big enough to satisfy the bear’s appetite it must be nutritious. Fish such as salmon is likely to be a nutritious food that keeps the bear warm in a freezing temperature. Polar bears are also thought to catch Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) as well as fourhorn sculpin during swimming.

    [table id=Fish /]

    Do Polar Bears Eat Fish? – Polar Bears eating Salmon – Video

  • Do Polar Bears Eat Dolphins?

    Norwegian scientists believe that polar bears have been forced to feed on species which they had never eaten in 50 years. Recently they discovered that polar bears are eating dolphins perhaps for the first time in the Norwegian arctic. Scientists however blame climate change for this much flexibility in the bear’s diet. Researchers also photographed polar bears consuming two carcasses of white-beaked dolphins. Now let us find out if polar bears really eat dolphins in the wild.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Dolphins?

    Dolphins are not rare in the Norwegian Arctic but polar bears have never fed on them. During warmer months when the ice floes break up dolphins are rather exposed to the arctic land predators such as polar bears. However in spring they are covered with thick ice sheets yet bears can smell beneath the snow. According to scientists the dolphins might have moved further north due to ice melts. Besides, ice-free winters in the arctic further provoke dolphins to travel northwards.

    Dolphins must come to the surface to breathe. White bears are always alert to the tiny hole in the ice and whenever a dolphin shows up it just smashes the prey with its powerful paws. Dolphins on the other hand do not seem to have choice; they must breathe through a tiny hole to breathe.

    Polar bears usually freeze the remains of dolphins (after eating) by covering it in snow. They do so in order to prevent arctic fox or other land predators from smelling it. Bears will get this frozen dolphin the next day when the food is scarce.

  • Do Polar Bears eat Caribou?

    The caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) is a large North American animal. The caribou’s range extends to Alaska where it meets apex predators of the Arctic Ocean. One of the predators is a polar bear that seems to rule the Arctic land in the midsummer. Polar bears eat caribou in summer when the ice floes disappear and bears must hunt on land. Polar bears are also responsible for the decline of caribou’s population in Alaska.

    Caribou can move relatively freely in winter because polar bears remain close to the ice floes (away from land) to hunt seals. A 200-kilogram caribou provides protein-rich food to polar bears and they can afford to spend days in summer without eating.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Caribou?

    The scientists at the American Museum of Natural History suggest that polar bears seem to be increasingly rely on caribou in the past 40 years. This is primarily due to gradual warming of the Arctic waters. As it turns out the warmer months stay longer than before. Polar bears are forced to hunt on land and thus they prey on caribou.

    Previously white bears didn’t seem to bother with the presence of animals such as caribou because they’ve had enough of seals in winter. However recent changes in climate forced polar bears to survive on offshore land animals.

    Similarly the isolated population in the western Hudson Bay is thought to survive on alternate food sources. Certain adult bears consume plants—indicating their adaptation to rapid changing circumstances. It goes back in time when polar bears shared characteristic behavior with brown bears some 600,000 years ago. The white bear might have adopted this behavior from brown bears.

    do polar bears eat caribou
    A Caribou trotting. Fred Lemire — National Geographic Your Shot

    Many researchers (in fact, the leading authorities in the field) are extremely concerned that adaptive behaviors and alternative food sources will not sustain polar bears in their present size or number.

    Scientists suggest that polar bears rarely preyed on snow geese and caribou in the early 20th century because ice froze early each year which makes easier for bears to hunt seals.

    Other Food Sources

    Polar bears likely eat several terrestrial and marine species when the ice disappears. Prominent among these species are berries, grasses, marine algae, fish, small mammals, waterfowl species, bird eggs, willow ptarmigan, and of course caribou.

    Polar bears were not known to prey on land until recently when it started eating eggs from waterfowl’s nesting colonies. The study also proves that bears are now beginning to rely on caribou which is a primary prey in ice-free months.

    Previously white bears didn’t seem to bother with the presence of animals such as caribou because they’ve had enough of seals in winter. However recent changes in climate forced polar bears to survive on offshore land animals. As of now polar bears not only run after the caribou but they can even climb the cliffs if they must in order pursue the prey. This is quite unusual in Ursus maritimus for they had never put so much effort in chasing down alternate prey (in the past). The reason behind this behavioral shift is not known. It may be partly due to the scarcity of primary meal or simply changing food source.

  • Do Polar Bears Eat Birds? – Polar Bear Secondary Prey

    Polar bears must consume ringed or bearded seals in order to survive the arctic environment. But over the past few decades possibly due to climate change the ice floes break up making it difficult for bears to hunt its primary prey. As it turns out the bear resorts to eating birds and other alternative food sources that give them minimum nourishment. While birds do not seem to provide polar bear enough fats or nutritious value to help them live through the hibernation period it nevertheless makes sure that the bear doesn’t die of starvation. Let’s see how do polar bears eat birds.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Birds?

    Ice bears are quite adaptable and probably a little creative in altering their feeding habits. Scientists have observed that the bears are now trying to supplement their primary diet with some birds.

    The research journal Polar Ecology of 2013 showed several video clips of a polar bear actively hunting birds including snow geese. In a journal the researchers noted that the bear now resorts to consume young snow geese as well as adult geese—showing flexible foraging behavior.

    Read More: What Do Polar Bears Eat?

    Scientists believe that polar bears have never hunted or even pursued birds like this before. It shows a significant variation in the bear’s ecology or desperation in food.

    She is thought to eat more birds in mid-summer and early spring. Yet another published in 2013 Polar Bear Ecology and Evolution suggested that the bears’ diet was far different 40 years ago from what it is now and this has much to do with the global warming. Polar bears inhabiting the Hudson Bay lowlands are likely to prey on birds and birds’ eggs.


    Apart from global warming another possible reason as to why polar bears eat birds might be due to bear’s longevity. Adult bears especially 22 – 25 years age eventually become too weak to hunt large prey such as seals. As a result they begin to find easy targets which are usually birds.

    In the southern Svalbard researchers believe that polar bears are beginning to arrive on the nesting sites earlier than the previous years. It shows the extremities of hunger in bears for seabirds which are turning out to be endangered within the polar bear’s reach. Each passing day polar bears are eating more and more eggs.

    [table id=birds /]

    According to the National Geographic many seabirds are losing their arctic habitats because they become the meal of polar bears. The guillemot, one of the arctic seabirds, is quite threatened by the presence of ice bear and the latter actively searches for her. Many a times bear climbs up the rocky cliffs to find birds’ eggs and their chicks. The Norwegian and Greenland polar bears also eat barnacle geese, glaucous geese, and eider ducks.

    “In most of the years since, predation has been really severe.” He has observed polar bears eating more than 200 eggs in 2 hours, and last year no chicks or eggs of any species—barnacle geese, eiders, and glaucous gulls—survived”– Jouke Prop, an ornithologist.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Birds? – Video

  • Do Polar Bears Eat Arctic Wolves?

    Polar bears do not typically eat arctic wolves. That is not to say that they can’t. Arctic wolves are small mammals as compared to bears therefore they stand no chance against the supreme predator such as this. It’s just that arctic wolves do not make up the essential part of the polar bear’s diet. However at times hungry boars come across the wolf’s den and capture wolf’s pups. While arctic wolf doesn’t seem to provide any nutritious value polar bears eat them only in desperate times when the food is scarce and the bear has been starving for 2 – 3 months.

    Read More: Do Polar Bears Eat Arctic Foxes?

    Arctic wolf’s pups are highly vulnerable to polar bears because the latter possesses an acute sense of smell. Polar bears can smell their prey a mile away. Their powerful jaws allow them to break the wolf’s skull with ease and drag them to the bear’s den for cubs to munch on. Polar bears are opportunistic hunters and they will kill just about anything that comes along the way.

    Read More: Do Polar Bears Eat Penguins?

    Polar bears likely encounter arctic wolves on the northernmost part of North America as well as on the eastern Greenland. Like polar bears, arctic wolves also camouflage themselves against predators but still bears rely on their sense of smell for hunting rather than sight—so the wolf stands very minimum chance to escape.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Arctic Wolves? – Video

  • Do Polar Bears Eat Arctic Foxes?

    Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) appear to share the same geographic distribution in that both species inhabit the Northern Hemisphere—Arctic. Foxes rarely get killed by polar bears but they do show a tendency to get closer to such a large predator especially when both of them find a dead animal to feed on. Let us see if polar bears really eat arctic foxes. 

    Do Polar Bears Eat Arctic Foxes?

    Polar bears for the most part of their lives rely on ringed and bearded seals. They love to eat seals all day long. However when the primary prey is not available (as is often do) the bears must supplement their diet with some secondary animals. It happens mostly in summer when bears search for land-based mammals. During winter, the ice-floes eventually become too thin to support bear’s weight and as it turns out polar bears choose other animals such as foxes, birds and carcasses to make up the deficiency of food.

    Polar bears do interact with many small arctic mammals. Arctic foxes are one of them. They have a predator-prey relationship. That is not to say that polar bears actively pursue arctic foxes or migrate long distances in search of them. Polar bears do not hunt arctic foxes in a way they hunt seals. It is just that bear’s opportunistic nature seems to dominate her choice to eat just about any animal no matter how insignificant it appears to be. Besides, like polar bears arctic foxes are also scavengers. They smell the carcass and if they find one they try to get one. During this time if a bear shows up following the same carcass smell then perhaps the fox becomes the prey along with the carcass. Now polar bear can probably focus on fresh live animal (fox) instead of a dead carcass.

    White bears consume seals because seals are full of blubber. White bears need that blubber in days of hibernation. Arctic foxes on the other hand do not seem to provide any such nutritional value. Nevertheless foxes can make a pretty handy meal when the food is scarce.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Arctic Foxes? – Video

  • Do Polar Bears Attack Humans | Do Polar Bears Eat People?

    Yes they probably do! The rapid change in climate has caused the Arctic’s sea ice to melt at an increasing pace. The melting of ice in turn brings polar bears and humans closer ever than before. Over the past few decades several polar bear attacks on humans have been reported and they are likely to rise in future. It occurs because bears are now adapting to hunt on land as they cannot survive the summer months without food. Let’s see why do polar bears eat people.

    Do Polar Bears Attack Humans?

    That said, polar bears are less likely to look at humans as a potential food source but they are more inclined to see humans as a threat. They do not actively pursue humans just like they hunt seals or other animals. Polar bears never eat humans. It just happens that sometimes humans’ camps near the polar bear’s habitat and the bear smells their presence and attack them. It’s not wrong to assume that polar bears are curious animals. Their increased curiosity (alongside hunger) brings them close to humans.

    Polar bears will attack humans when bears feel threatened by the human presence. It happens when humans get close to the bear’s habitat. Polar bears might maul if they are hungry or when the mother bear is with her cubs. She will not tolerate any suspected predator near her cubs.

    Do Polar Bears Attack Humans? – Video showing a BBC cameraman is inside the cube and he’s attacked by a female polar bear but a hungry one.

    Polar Bear Attacks on Humans

    1.) On December 8, 1990 a polar bear attacked 28-year-old Carl Stalker who was walking with her girlfriend in Point Lay, Alaska. The bear killed Carl and started eating him. Authorities killed the bear immediately at the same place where the Carl died.

    2.) On July 9, 1999 a male polar bear attacked two people on the Hudson Bay camp but fortunately both of them survived with major injuries. One of the adult females Hattie Amitnak (age 64) attempted to distract the animal and the bear charged for her. However she escaped. Hattie was later awarded with the posthumous medal for her bravery.

    3.) In the year 2010 a polar bear attacked one of the explorers at his camp in Svalbard, Norway. The arctic’s apex predator pulled the 22-year-old Sebastian Nilssen from his camp and dragged him 130 feet along the ice. The other camper Fjeld shot the bear and the Nilssen’s life was saved. He suffered major injuries on his chest and head.

    4.) In 2009 a captive polar bear attacked a woman who tried to swim inside the bear’s enclosure. The attack was understandably expected since woman was neither a zookeeper nor did she possess any special skills to handle polar bears. She just jumped into the enclosure for fun. The incident occurred in the Berlin zoo and the woman was pulled back in time. The bear bit many times on the woman’s legs and back. However, she managed to get away and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

    do polar bears attack humans?
    A 4-year-old polar bear attacked a woman who tried to swim towards a bear. Do polar bears eat humans. Photo by Daily Mail.
    do polar bears attack humans?
    A polar bear holding woman’s cardigan in her mouth. Do polar bears eat humans? Photo by Daily Mail.

    5.) In March 2016, a woman was feeding chicken bones to a polar bear in Cape Schmidt in Chukotka, east Russia. The polar bear attacked her but her husband stood nearby and he did something no one has ever imagined. He threw his dog at the polar bear to save his wife’s life—probably one of the worst things you’d ever expect. Nonetheless, the woman managed to get away with some bruises but no serious injuries reported. However we do not know what might have happened to the dog one that was thrown at a bear.

    Do Polar Bears Eat People? – Video showing a polar attacks a woman and a woman’s husband throws a dog at polar bear in order to save her wife. Some of you might find it disturbing so viewers discretion is advised.

  • Do Polar Bears and Penguins Live Together?

    Do you have any idea where do polar bears and penguins live? No! Polar bears and penguins live in absolutely different locations. Polar bears live in the Northern Hemisphere while penguins inhabit the Southern Hemisphere. They are far apart—living on the opposite ends. It is reasonable to believe that none of them ever saw the other in their native habitats. Possibility may exist that some polar bears migrate to the South Pole (since habitat conditions are almost the same) but no such movement has ever been reported. Let us study as if polar bears and penguins live in the same place.

    Do Polar Bears and Penguins Live Together?

    Penguins are flightless aquatic birds while polar bears are marine mammals but they do hunt on land. Polar bears live in the Arctic which is a polar region and it occurs at the northernmost tip of the earth. Penguins, on the contrary, live in the southernmost part of the earth, Antarctic.

    What if Polar Bears and Penguins Live Together?

    Should polar bears start living in the Antarctic no penguin would dare to survive because polar bears are land-based predators and also due to the fact that penguins are flightless birds. They cannot escape if they cannot fly—not at least from polar bears.

    But penguins are able to dive into the water. Well, let’s not forget that polar bears are outstanding swimmers too. They do it all too well as a matter of fact white bears spend half of their entire life in water. Had penguins been living in the Arctic or polar bears in the Antarctic the relationship between the two would be a predator-prey relationship. Thanks to nature that has kept both species apart and alive.

    Do Polar Bears and Penguins Live in the Same Place? – Video