Polar Bear Facts

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  • How Much Does a Baby Polar Bear Weigh?

    Baby polar bears are way too small as compared to adult bears. They are usually born in November and February. At birth, the baby polar bear typically shows light down fur which is probably not dense enough to protect it from the chilling cold of the Arctic. Now let us see how much do polar bear cubs weigh at birth.

    How Much Does a Baby Polar Bear Weigh?

    The newborn baby polar weighs only 2 pounds or 0.9 kilogram—nearly the weight of an adult ground squirrel. It is curious that an animal weighing only a couple of pounds at birth reaches the size of the biggest land carnivore in the world. However small it is at birth, the baby polar bear grows pretty quickly especially in the initial days of its birth. The polar bear cub stays in a den for up to mid-April after which the cubs leave the den. By the time the cubs leave the den they weigh 22 to 33 pounds.

    how much does a baby polar bear weigh
    A polar bear cub. How much does a baby polar bear weigh?. Photo by DailyMail

    Scientists wonder why do baby polar bears are born so little at birth. One probable reason (according to researchers) might be that the female polar bear doesn’t eat anything during the hibernation-like state so the baby polar bear comes out just as weak. The mother starves for months in dormancy period which indeed renders the baby polar bear rather feeble.

    How Much Does a Baby Polar Bear Weigh? – Video

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    • How Do Polar Bears Reproduce? – Polar bears are polygynous creatures in that their cubs may or may not belong to the same father…
    • How Do Polar Bears Communicate? – When polar bears growl it means that they are extremely angry. A deep growling may also suggest the mother bear is protecting her food..
    • How Do Polar Bears Adapt to their Environment? – Thanks to the physiological, structural, and behavioral adaptations of a polar bear that allow her not only to survive but also to live like many Arctic mammals…
    • Female Polar Bear – Female polar bear is less than half the size of a male polar bear. She is also much less in weight as compared to their mating partners…

  • How Heavy is a Polar Bear?

    Polar bear is a pretty heavy animal—probably the heaviest of all carnivorous land mammals. Siberian tiger is just about the same weight as polar bear but the latter is slightly heavier. Therefore, polar bears do not have any natural predators in the Arctic. However, when they born they are only as heavy as an adult ground squirrel. Now let us see how heavy is a polar bear in the wild?

    How Heavy is a Polar Bear?

    Mature male bears average 350–700 kg (772–1,543 lb) in weight but most bears weigh 800 – 900 pounds. Adult males are two times heavier than adult females. However during dormancy the female polar bears put on too much weight—reaching the weight of adult males.

    how heavy is a polar bear
    A Polar bear spreads its body weight to prevent herself from falling into the water.
    Photo by DailyMail.

    In the Beaufort Sea, the adult males are reportedly as heavy as 450 kg (992 lb) whereas mature females average 150–250 kg (331–551 lb) in weight. During pregnancy, the female reaches the weight of 1,100 pounds. Many a times it happens that a polar bear spreads its legs while walking on the thin ice. It does so in order to distribute its body weight equally so the bear doesn’t fall into the water. When the Arctic ice is not thick enough to support the bear’s weight, the polar bear cannot hunt for seals because it uses dense ice as a hunting platform. Consequently, the polar bear spends weeks sometimes even months in starvation.

    According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the maximum polar bear weight is recorded at 385 to 410 kg (849 to 904 lb) but conservationists have found polar bears weighing more than 1,000 pounds in the wild. There’s no mass comparison of polar bears with any other ground-dwelling Arctic species—the white bear is clearly the biggest and the heaviest of all Arctic mammals.

    How Heavy is a Polar Bear? – Video showing a polar bear walking on a thin ice.

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  • How Big is a Male Polar Bear? – Male Polar Bear Size

    Polar bears are among the most sexually dimorphic mammals in that the male is twice the size of a female. If you ever visit the Arctic and you’re lucky enough to see a big yellow spot navigating through the Arctic—that would probably be a male polar bear. Adult male polar bear has a shoulder height of about 4 to 5 feet.

    How Tall is a Male Polar Bear?

    The shoulder height of a male polar bear averages 122 to 160 cm (4 feet 0 inch to 5 feet 3 inches). The average length of a male polar bear is 7 feet 10 inches to 9 feet 10 inches. Adult males are not only twice the height of a female bear—they are two times the weight of a female. Mature males will take the advantage of their big size and they likely become aggressive and sometimes eat polar bear cubs. Females, on the other hand are quite vulnerable as they can defend their cubs from any potential predators except for male polar bears. You can watch the National Geographic video below where a male polar bear attacks and eats the polar bear cub while the female bear could do nothing but to escape for her own life.

    How Big is a Male Polar Bear? – Video a dominant and hungry male polar bear kills the cub in front of its mother and eats it. (watch with a heavy heart)

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  • 49 Polar Bear Facts for Kids

    Polar bears have long been admired for their cuddly appearance particularly polar bear cubs which do not only look loveable they actually display white fluffy hairs. Children love just about anything about polar bear so that they may prepare polar bear worksheets, polar bear essays, polar bear research projects, and so on. Well, here we’re bringing some of the most fascinating polar bear facts for kids that reflect on the entire life of polar bears in the Arctic.

    49 Polar Bear Facts for Kids

    1. The scientific name of a polar bear is Ursus maritimus. Constantine John Phipps was the first person who gave polar bear a scientific name back in 1774. The word means ‘sea bear’ or ‘maritime bear’.
    2. The polar bear is the only bear species that can continuously swim for days.
    3. Polar bear is not white; it only appears to be one. The polar bear hairs are hollow and they reflect the light.
    4. Polar bear’s skin color is black. One can notice its black skin when the bear sheds its fur possibly due to some disease.
    5. Polar bears have very sharp sense of smell. They can smell their prey from as far as 1.5 kilometers away.
    6. They do not make too much noise. During the breeding season male bear growls in order to show aggression to the other male.
    7. A polar bear is a super carnivore which means that it lives on meat. Unlike other bears, a polar bear never eats grass.
    8. It is adapted to living in extreme cold weather conditions. Polar bears can survive in temperatures as low as minus 40 degree Fahrenheit.
    9. Polar bears can spend months in starvation. A mother polar bear does not eat anything during hibernation.
    10. Polar bears are not true hibernators. They do however enter into dormancy state but scientists do not call it hibernation.
    11. A female polar bear remains inactive for as long as 4 – 5 months in a year.
    12. It is one of the few mammals which are quite badly hit by global warming.
    13. Polar bears are strong swimmers. The longest swimming record by any polar bear is 9 days. This is the record of a female bear.
    14. The female bear is only half the size of an adult male.
    15. Adult males sometimes eat polar bear cubs.
    16. Polar bears sleep and give birth in dens. They will build dens on ice packs.
    17. The polar bear is the largest bear species.
    18. It has the shortest tail of all bears.
    19. A polar bear is the biggest of all carnivorous land mammals.
    20. Polar bears do not eat penguins.
    21. Polar bears live in the Arctic whereas penguins are found in the Antarctic.
    22. During summer, the polar bear coat turns yellow
    23. Polar bears can run fast but they do not chase their prey for long because they get overheated.
    24. They do not seem to have any natural predators in the wild.
    25. Polar bears love to feed on ringed and bearded seals.
    26. They will not eat humans. A male polar bear is comparatively more aggressive than female bears.
    27. They have poor eyesight. Polar bears do not depend on sight for hunting prey.
    28. Polar bears are found in Russia, United States, Canada, Norway, United States, and Denmark.
    29. The largest population of polar bears occurs in Canada.
    30. Currently there are 25,000 polar bears living in the Arctic.
    31. Adult male bears weigh up to 772–1,543 pounds while female averages 331–551 only.
    32. The length of an adult male is about 7 ft 10 in–9 ft 10 inches with the female measuring up to 5 ft 11 in–7 ft 10 inches.
    33. Kodiak brown bear is probably the only species which goes about the size of a polar bear.
    34. Polar bears have quite heavy and sharp claws—perfect for digging ice.
    35. Polar bears have 42 teeth in total.
    36. They have long hairs of about 2 – 6 inches in length.
    37. As the bear grows older the white coat turns yellow.
    38. The maximum distance covered by any polar bear is estimated at 400 miles in swimming.
    39. Unlike other bear species, polar bears do not maintain territories.
    40. They are known to travel alone. However sometimes a group of polar bears is found feeding at the whale carcass.
    41. During distress, polar bears produce sounds like chuffs and
    42. Polar bear uses still-hunting method to hunt seals. The bear likely waits for several hours sitting at the same spot—waiting for seal to show up.
    43. Polar bears eat seals because it provides them blubber as well as calorie-rich skin.
    44. The polar bear cubs weigh only 2 pounds at birth.
    45. The female produces two cubs but when the food is scarce she only raises one.
    46. Males attain maturity at 6 years of age while females become mature at 4 years age.
    47. The average lifespan of a polar bear is about 20 – 25 years in the wild. One polar bear died at the age of 32 in the wild. The maximum lifespan in captivity is about 43 years.
    48. Brown bears and polar bears do fight over the food.
    49. The overall population is stable. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed polar bears as Vulnerable.

    Read More: How to Draw a Polar Bear for Kids?

  • Polar Bear Habitat for Kids

    Habitat is a place where an animal lives. It is the animal’s home. Polar bear habitat is different from other land predators or even other bear species. Most other bear habitats consist of green vegetation but the polar bear habitat is the combination of ice and water. Although the bear is a land animal it is also called marine mammal because polar bear spends half of its life in swimming. It is now time to explore some of the most interesting facts about polar bear habitat for kids.

    Polar Bear Habitat for Kids

    • The polar bear makes home on an annual sea ice especially the ice floes that float in water. It will build dens on the ice to protect their cubs from potential predators.
    • This shows that the primary habitat of a polar bear lies where the sea ice actually meets the Arctic water.
    • Polar bears prefer to choose icy habitats because they hunt seals by standing over the ice floes. They will rarely chase seals into the water.
    • The polar bear habitat is not composed of freshwater because it is mostly locked up in snow.
    • Annual ice doesn’t necessarily occur throughout the year—it melts during the summer. In the James Bay and Hudson Bay the ice completely disappears—making it hard for polar bears to hunt seals.
    • The female polar bear generally builds dens on large frozen ice packs.
    • Polar bears do not make habitats in North Pole because the density of seals is pretty low at the Pole.
    • The temperature of a polar bear habitat is 10 °C (50 °F).

    Polar Bear Habitat for Kids – Video

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  • What Seals Do Polar Bears Eat? – Polar Bear Primary Diet

    Polar bears rely on seals for the most part of their diet. While they eat just about any kind of seal, polar bears do have special preference for a few seal species. For instance, they love to feed on ringed seal and bearded seal. Ringed and bearded seals are the top menu items of polar bear’s diet. According to an estimate, the entire population of polar bears eats one million seals a year. That’s pretty much! Let us see now what kind of seals do polar bears eat in the tundra.

    What Kind of Seals Do Polar Bears Eat?

    As I said before, polar bears consume any kind of seal species no matter what. However, there are certain seals which are probably much more nutritious than others. But polar bears need them all to survive in the Arctic.

    Perhaps the most widely distributed seal species is the ringed seal which occurs in millions in the Arctic waters. But they also make up the essential and major portion of the polar bear’s diet.

    Read More: What Do Polar Bears Eat?

    There are two reasons as to why polar bears like ringed seals the most. First, ringed seals can be easily found as compared to other seals since they are most common. Secondly, they are smaller in size in comparison to the bearded seals. Not only do adult polar bears consume adult ringed seals, subadult bears can also fancy their chances feeding on adult ringed seals.

    Apart from ringed and bearded seals, polar bears also prey on harbor seal, hooded seal, and harp seal.

    On the contrary, bearded seals (which are also quite abundant perhaps not as much as ringed seals) are not only bigger than the ringed seals—they grow pretty quickly. Once they reach adulthood they become less vulnerable to the polar bears—at least to subadult bears.

    The adult bearded seal averages 500 – 800 pounds. Nonetheless, adult polar bears know it all too well. They mostly go for bearded seal’s pups which are easy to prey on. However, if a bear catches an adult bearded seal it can go by weeks without hunting anymore. It’s as if the bear has consumed 6 to 7 ringed seals at one time.

    Apart from ringed and bearded seals, polar bears also prey on harbor seal, hooded seal, and harp seal. They will eat seals in spring and summer because winter comes with the frozen arctic waters. Hooded seals are pretty hard to find as studies suggest that polar bears are able to eat hooded seals only 20 days in a year.

    As it turns out, hooded seals make up only 2 – 3 % of the bear’s diet. Hooded seals are also pretty much bigger and heavier than the ringed seals so only adult polar bears can afford to take down adult hooded seals.

    What Seals Do Polar Bears Eat? – Video shows a hungry polar bear catches a ringed seal and surprises the seal with its attack!

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    • Do Polar Bears eat Birds? – Scientists have observed that the bears are now trying to supplement their primary diet with some birds…
    • Polar Bear Cannibalism – Polar bears are generally opportunistic predators so much so that they show cannibalistic behavior at times…
    • Do Polar Bears eat Fish? – Polar bears always prefer to hunt bigger animals such as seals or walruses. However during warmer months…

  • Do Polar Bears Eat Orcas?

    Polar bears and orcas do not appear to have any direct predator-prey relationship. While both inhabit the same environmental conditions they seldom go after each other. However, since both are apex predators as well as opportunistic in nature—they are most likely to look at other as a potential food source. You may not find any video or still in which polar bears are eating orcas but scientists do believe that the Arctic bears always feast on orcas if they find one along the way. Let’s find out how do polar bears eat Orcas in the Arctic Sea.

    Do Polar Bears Eat Orcas?

    Yes, polar bears do consume orcas but in a way they prey on ringed seals. Orcas are bigger, much heavier than seals and any other marine prey. Besides, killer whales are supreme predators so polar bears find it extremely hard to kill animal such as this. Nonetheless, polar bears are scavengers too and whenever they smell large dead whale lying ashore they just go for it.

    Read More: Do Killer Whales Eat Polar Bears?

    do polar bears eat orcas
    A polar bear feeding on a dead whale carcass–probably not an Orca. Do Polar Bears Eat Orcas?
    • So, this shows that polar bears fancy eating dead orcas. Another reason why they prefer to eat orcas is that it provides a large quantity of meat—enough to satisfy 15 – 20 bears at a time.
    • That is why you’ll see as many as 20 polar bears feeding on a single carcass of a killer whale. Having said that however orcas can never make up the polar bear’s top menu and so polar bears don’t really rely on them.
    • Thus, we can conclude that polar bears eat orcas perhaps not as a regular part of their diet. But if they get one, they’ll eat one!

  • What Do Polar Bears Eat for Kids?

    In this article we are going to discuss polar bear diet for kids. Polar bears are super carnivores which mean that they do not eat anything other than the meat. Polar bears are probably the only bear species that do not eat vegetation. They are the biggest of all bears. Polar bears eat a wide variety of animals and they do not generally depend on one or few animals. Let us now study in detail what animals do polar bears eat for kids.

    What Do Polar Bears Eat for Kids?

    Polar Bears eat Ringed and Bearded Seals

    Polar bears love to eat ringed seals and bearded seals. If you plan to raise one of the polar bears in captivity (which is probably not a good idea) you can feed them with seals all day long. They like to eat seals inasmuch as kids like to eat Macdonald’s happy meals. Seals are quite common in the Arctic which is possibly one of the few reasons why polar bears prefer to feed on them. Besides, bears eat seals because they get fats (out of them) which help polar bears to spend months without eating anything.

    Read More: How to Draw a Polar Bear for Kids?

    what do polar bears eat for kids
    Chris Desborough — National Geographic Your Shot

    Polar Bears eat Beluga Whales and Narwhals for Kids

    It’s true that whales are not top of the polar bear’s menu but they do eat whales when they find one along the way. It mostly happens when a beluga whale gets entrapped in between the large chunks of ice. When a polar bear finds a beluga whale or narwhal it waits for the right opportunity to seize the whale. When the whale comes to the surface to breathe the bear grabs it and drags the whale to the sea ice.

    Photo by P. Woods Ryan — National Geographic Your Shot

    Polar Bears eat Arctic Char for Kids

    Although polar bears do not usually like to eat fish in a way brown bears do—they do hunt fish when their primary prey goes short. Polar bears especially like to feed on arctic charr.

    what do polar bears eat for kids
    Arctic Char

    Polar Bears eat Caribou for Kids

    Caribou or reindeer are probably not as small as ringed seals. Adult caribou weighs up to 250 pounds but polar bears have got the ability to hunt large mammals such as this. Bears hunt caribou only in summer when the sea ice melts so the polar bears must survive on land mammals.

    what do polar bears eat for kids
    Caribou Jack Garr — National Geographic Your Shot

  • 21 Interesting Facts about Polar Bears  

    Did you know facts about polar bears? Perhaps not! Let me take to the Arctic where you get to know some of the special facts about polar bears. Polar bears are probably the only bears that have long fascinated biologists not only for their super strength but for their ability to swim great distances. We have managed to gather some of the most amazing 21 facts about polar bears.

    What are Interesting Facts about Polar Bears?

    • Polar bears were separated from brown bears some 600,000 years ago.
    • They are the largest living carnivorous animals on land. Polar bears are also referred to as marine mammals because they spend much of their lives in water.
    • Scientists believe that they have observed a decrease in the polar bear’s skull size in the last 118 years. This is possibly due to the environmental pollution.
    • A new born polar bear weighs as little as 500 grams whereas a fully grown adult weighs as much as 700 kilograms. The cubs gain weight up to 14 kg in just 3 – 4 months after the birth.
    • The adult male is nearly twice the size of an adult female. While the male polar bear weighs 550 – 650 kg the female measures around 200 – 300 kg in weight.
    • Male polar bears breed with the female which are less than half the size of their own. Males attain maximum size during their 10th birthday.

    Read More: Top 5 Facts about Polar Bears

    interesting facts about polar bears for kids
    By YOHFONG C.
    • Females are thought to breed only once in 2 – 3 years. During pregnancy she will enter into a dormancy (a sort of hibernation) state in a den. In November or December the female gives birth to twins or sometimes three cubs. During sleep the mother polar bear relies on her available fat.
    • Sometimes the cubs in the same den are not real brothers or sisters. They are step brothers. Siblings can have different father.
    • Polar bear cubs are not only blind at birth but they are also deaf. However in couple of months they will grow into the most powerful terrestrial animal.
    • The weight of the bear is supported by the feet. The polar bear’s feet does not only spread the weight but they also facilitate the animal in walking over the thin sheet of ice. They serve as snowshoes. White bears possess tiny pads called papillae under their feet. The papillae prevent the animal from slipping while providing a firm grip on the ice.
    • The white bear is one of the few terrestrial animals which can maintain a speed of about 3.5 miles per hour for many hours.
    • Polar bears are strong swimmers and they can swim as much a distance as 4,500 miles in a single season. One polar bear swam as much as 687 kilometers (426 miles) continuously in 9 days. This is the maximum distance covered by any white bear in a single journey.
    • Polar bears possess one of the greatest home ranges of the animal kingdom. The average range is 350,000 square kilometers.
    • They have black skin and black tongue.
    • While white bears are able to see things in the low light of the arctic the bear’s sight is quite poor. They don’t rely on sight for hunting. Polar bears have nearly the same sight as that of humans.
    • The estimated population of polar bears is 20,000 – 25,000 worldwide. One million ringed seals are needed each year to feed the entire polar bear population.
    • Polar bears appear to be yellow in days when seals are abundant. This is probably due to the oil they eat from the seal—this makes the color of the coat slightly yellow.
    • A female polar bear can go by 4 to 5 months without eating. Yet in starving she never refuses to nurse her cubs. That said, the female white bear is a highly devoted mother.
    • A bear cub who is not a trained swimmer is likely to sit on the mother’s back while the mother swims. This prevents the cub from chilling into the icy water.
    • Polar bears cannot suffer from snow blindness but if we were to spend that much time in the arctic we would surely go blind in just few days. Arctic bears have yellow pigment in the cornea which serves as eyeglasses and prevent the sunlight from damaging.
    • About 60% of the polar bear’s population is found in Canada alone.

  • What Does a Baby Polar Bear Look Like? – Baby Polar Bear Description

    While adult polar bears are perfectly insulated by the dense white fur, baby polar bears develop lighter furs in the initial days following the birth. A baby polar bear has fluffy white fur which protects the cub from extreme Arctic chill. However the cub’s fur is not thick enough to prevent them from cold if they get wet. That is to say that baby polar bear cubs likely develop hypothermia if they swim in cold water. Let us see now what do polar bears look like when they are born.

    What Does a Baby Polar Bear Look Like?

    The baby polar bear weighs only 2 pounds at birth—nearly the size of a ground squirrel. It is curious that they become the largest terrestrial carnivores from a ground squirrel. Polar bear cubs grow pretty quickly.

    A baby polar bear which is about to leave the den is relatively more fluffy and is covered with short woolly fur than the one at birth.

    A baby polar bear which is about to leave the den is relatively more fluffy and is covered with short woolly fur than the one at birth. At this age, they likely develop wavy guard hairs and tawny coat. The density of cub’s fur varies—even between the real brothers. While some baby bears show beige coat the first time they emerge from the den, others are absolutely white.

    Read More: What Do Polar Bears Look Like?

    what does a baby polar bear look like
    ©MICHELLE VALBERG/National Geographic

    Unlike adults, the baby polar bears have pink skin and it remains pinkish for as long as 450 days after the birth. The skin turns black with age. Adult polar bears show absolutely black skin. Baby polar bears have tiny black eyes just like the adult’s.

    References

    Derocher, Andrew E. (2012). Polar Bears—A Complete Guide to their Biology & Behavior: 18–22.

    Kazlowski, Steven; Stirling, Ian (2010). Ice Bear: The Arctic World of Polar Bears. Seattle, WA: The Mountaineers Books.