Tag: 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?

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 10^th birthday.

Read More: Top 5 Facts about Polar Bears

• 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.