Polar Bear Facts

Tag: Polar Bear Facts

  • How Do Polar Bears Adapt to their Environment?

    It is quite amazing that polar bears have adapted to the harsh arctic environment where most land mammals could hardly survive one day. 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. These adaptations are likely to arise when animals are forced to live in different habitats. This occurs gradually during which the bear learns to adapt herself with the environment. This is called adaptation.

    In order to know these adaptations in detail one must understand how polar bears have evolved to live on the sea ice. While the powerful paddle-like feet provides absolute support to the body weight dense fur, specialized teeth, and sharp nose facilitates the bear in swimming, eating, and smelling respectively. Let us discuss then how do polar bears adapt to the tundra.

    How Do Polar Bears Adapt to their Environment?

    Scientists believe that polar bears might have evolved from grizzly bears some 70,000 to 100,000 years ago. The white bears have probably adapted their ecological behavior from grizzly bears and both the species appear to have separated in the glacial periods. This explains why Ursus maritmus seem to share quite similar characteristics with Ursus arctos.

    Polar Bear Physical Adaptations

    Feet and Paw

    Read More: How Big is a Polar Bear Paw?

    The formidable polar bear’s feet are strong enough to support and balance the entire weight of the body on the sea ice. Besides support feet also facilitates the bear in swimming. Adult bears have their feet measuring 30 cm across. The polar bear’s paws are very handy in walking on the snow ice. The dermal pumps on the paws assist the bear to grip.

    Claw

    Read More: How Long are Polar Bear Claws?

    Unlike brown bears’ polar bears have claws which provide the animal firm grip not only on the ice but also on the prey. The short but powerful claw allows the white bear to hold the prey and the latter finds it impossible to escape. The brown bear’s paw is not that stocky.

    Nose and Smell

    Read More: How Far Can a Polar Bear Smell?

    Polar bears are one of few animals that can detect smell from kilometers away. It is often said about white bears that they smell you before you see them. They are thought to discover seals from a mile away even when the prey is moving underneath the snow.

    Ears and Hearing

    Read More: Why Do Polar Bears have Small Ears?

    While know only little about polar bear’s hearing sense they can probably hear up to 25 kHz. They are known to possess hearing sense as powerful as that of a human. White bears have less sharp hearing as compared to dogs even though the former is able to communicate in low frequencies.

    Eyes and Sight

    Read More: How Far Can a Polar Bear See?

    While polar bears have acute sense of smell they do possess pretty good sight. They are able to visualize things and can probably recognize colors.

    Sense of touch

    Polar bears are often seen touching things with their nose, tongue, and claw. However the statement lacks any scientific explanation whatsoever.

    how do polar bears adapt to the cold
    Polar bears are insulated by their dense furry coat. How do polar bears adapt to the Arctic. Photo by childrensmuseumofphoenix.org

    Polar Bear Structural Adaptations

    Structural adaptations of a polar help her to adapt with different environmental stressors such as the bear white fur which camouflages her in the snow. Structural adaptations also include adaptations as to how a white bear will protect her from the predators.

    Fur and Coat

    Polar bears possess white coat which goes pale yellow as the bear grows older. In captivity the yellowish coat is rather common and prominent because of the humid conditions. Sometimes the captive bear gives a shade of green color which is probably due to the algae that grows inside polar bear hair. Adult males seem to have longer hairs on their legs. These hairs continue to grow till the age of 14 years. Scientists say that adult males show long hairs to attract females.

    Read More: Why are Polar Bears White?

    The dense layer of the coat not only serves as an insulator but it virtually makes the bear to disappear in the white background. The primary prey seal finds it hard to detect the polar bear and when it does so it’s almost too late.

    Polar Bear Behavioral Adaptations

    Dormancy

    Brown bears hibernate but polar bears do not! White bears become inactive in season as they go into dormancy state. Adult females which are expecting babies usually become dormant. Adult males, though not active, do move around in search of prey. The dormancy state is not a true hibernation. During dormancy the bear lowers her metabolism and rely exclusively on the available fats.

    Feeding Behavior

    Polar bears predominantly prey on ringed and bearded seals which qualifies them as the most carnivorous bear of all Ursids. They hunt seals mostly underwater and rarely on land.

    How Do Polar Bears Adapt to their Environment? – Video 

  • Male Polar Bear | Weight, Size, Behavior of a Male Polar Bear

    Polar bears are sexually dimorphic mammals in that males are significantly larger and heavier than females. They are nearly twice larger and heavier in comparison to the females. The typical weight of a male polar bear measures around 350–700 kg (772–1,543 lb). Males are highly aggressive but they usually avoid each other. However during breeding season male bears fight over the females. Male polar bears eat cubs especially when the food is scarce. The cannibalism behavior is more likely to be observed in male polar bears than female polar bears.

    Male Polar Bear

    Male polar bear is called a boar.

    Adult male bears have shoulder height of about 122 to 160 cm (4 ft 0 in to 5 ft 3 in). Like females male bears also possess short tail measuring up to 7 to 13 cm (2.8 to 5.1 in).

    How Big is a Male Polar Bear?

    Main Article: How Big is a Male Polar Bear?

    The total length of a boar is 2.4–3 meters (7 ft 10 in–9 ft 10 in). The male polar bears are only slightly smaller than the male Kodiak bears.

    How Much does a Male Polar Bear Weigh? | Male Polar Bear Weight

    The male polar bear’s weight ranges from 350 to 700 kg (772 to 1,543 lb). According to the Guinness Book of World Records adult male polar bears weigh up to 385 to 410 kg (849 to 904 lb) and a shoulder height measuring at 133 cm (4 ft 4 in).

    Largest Male Polar Bear

    The largest male polar bear ever recorded was shot in the northwestern Alaska in 1960. The bear reached the height of about 3.39 m (11 ft 1 in) on her hind legs.

    Male Polar Bear – Video

  • Is a Polar Bear a Mammal? – Are Polar Bears Mammals?

    Yes polar bear is a mammal. It possesses all the required characteristics of mammals. The ice bear is the carnivorous mammal. It is in fact the most carnivorous of all bear species. Polar bear is also the world’s largest carnivorous land mammal living today.

    Is a Polar Bear a Mammal?

    Like all mammals, polar bear females nurse their cubs with milk. The female possesses mammary glands through which the milk is secreted.

    Polar bears possess heart which has four chambers. All mammals have four-chambered heart.

    White bears are viviparous in that they give birth to live young instead of laying eggs.

    Is a Polar Bear a Marine Mammal?

    While polar bear is the largest carnivorous land mammal she is also referred to as the marine mammal because the bear spends more than half of her life in water.

    Polar bears have got the amazing ability to swim great distances. They can cover hundreds of kilometers in water without even relaxing. Characteristics such as these make polar bear the marine mammal.

    Are Polar Bears Mammals? – Video

  • Is a Polar Bear a Carnivore? – Are Polar Bears Carnivores?

    Yes! Polar bear is a carnivore indeed it is the most carnivorous of all bear species. Polar bears need and eat fats all the time which they get from seals. The primary diet of the ice bear is ringed seal and bearded seal. While young bears consume the seal’s meat adult bears feed on the seal blubber to take as much fat as they possibly can. Polar bears are exclusively meat-eaters. They belong to the carnivora order. Bears may supplement their diet with hooded seal, harp seal or whale and dolphin carcasses but they may not resort to eating plants matter. Let us see if polar bear carnivore or omnivore.

    Is a Polar Bear a Carnivore?

    Although brown or grizzly bears and black bears also belong to the order carnivora they do not rely on meat as much as polar bears do. Asian bears and North American bears supplement their diet with grasses, shoots, sedges, fruits, and berries along with fish. But same is not the case with polar bears. They never eat plants or grasses. Polar bear eats grass only once or probably twice in two years. Sometimes male bears feed on grass soon after copulation or mating. Apart from that white bears are not generally known to consume grass. There are not many plants or trees in the Arctic which is besides the point. They would love to take proteins and fats in their regular diet.

    Read More: What Do Polar Bears Eat?

    Why are Polar Bears Carnivores?

    Polar bears possess longer and sharper canines than any other bear species. These canines serve as sharp knives that can rip the flesh off and can easily cut the hardest part of the skin. Furthermore, polar bears must eat proteins to survive the frigid arctic weather.

    Is a Polar Bear a Carnivore? – Video

  • How Long Do Polar Bears Live? | Polar Bear Lifespan

    The wild polar bear (Ursus maritimus) lives up to 20 years but the maximum lifespan rarely goes beyond 25 years. In this article we’re going to study what is the life expectancy of a polar bear. One of the wild specimens died at 32 years age which is so far the oldest on record. In captivity a female polar bear lived as long as 43 years. She died in 1991. Unluckily scientists have not been able to understand the real causes of polar bear’s mortality in the arctic habitat. This is because the carcasses of dead bears are hard to find in the frosty habitat. Let’s see how old do polar bears live in the arctic as well as in captivity.

    How Long Do Polar Bears Live?

    Biologists have reason to believe that polar bears have low lifespans in the wild habitat mainly because they find it hard to hunt seals as they eventually grow older. Besides, starving with age is a tough ask. On an average arctic polar bears live for 18 – 20 years. Only a handful number of bears are perhaps lucky enough to celebrate their silver jubilee.

    Polar bear Lifespan in Captivity

    Captive bears live longer lives because they are fed properly and on timely basis and they are given ideal environment. They do not hunt animals for they don’t need to. All these contribute to the longer lifespan of polar bears in captivity.

    polar bear lifespan
    A mother polar bear guards her cub in the first two years. How long do polar bears live? Photo by FloridaStock/Shutterstock

    How Old can Polar Bears Live up to?

    Under the ideal conditions such as those provided in captivity polar bears live around 32 – 35 years with one captive specimen reaching 43 years age. However in the arctic they can hardly survive beyond 25 years due to difficulty in hunting at an old age. Males are thought to have lesser annual survival rate as compared to females within wild populations. This is probably because male polar bears get into conflict on females and their fight often leads to fatal injuries.

    Probable Causes of Polar Bears’ Deaths in the Wild

    Over time polar bears begin to lose strength and possibly desire to hunt seals. They will now rely on easy meal such as those that can be found without hunting i.e. carcasses. However in the frigid arctic habitat the carcasses are hard (even harder) to find. Many adult polar bears are thought to survive on dead carcasses and sometimes bird (geese) eggs. These food sources do not provide sufficient nutrition value to polar bears since they rely almost exclusively on fats. Thus the scarcity of food and a lack of will power in polar bears become the significant causes of their deaths.

    Fighting and Cannibalism

    Main Article: Polar Bear Cannibalism

    Polar bears do not seem to have any natural predator in the arctic. However adult bears do sometimes fight each other just to win over a female during breeding season. The polar bear’s fight leads to serious bruises which are likely the causes of her death. The injured bear however powerful she may be is less likely to hunt. Besides fighting, adult polar bears also kill cubs to mostly to bring females into estrus and rarely to eat them as a potential food source. The interspecific conflicts also appear to become greater when the food is scarce. All these causes lead to the shorter lifespans of a polar bear in the wild habitat.

    How Long Do Polar Bears Live? – Polar Bear Lifespan – Video

  • How Fast Do Polar Bears Run? – Polar Bear Top Speed

    Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are able to reach the speed of about 40 km/h (25 mph) in short bursts. This is the top speed of a polar bear. Ice bears cannot maintain a speed of 40 kilometers per hour for longer periods because if they do they’ll become overheated. The average speed of polar bears is far less than the top speed. They are not generally known for their speeds nor do they rely on speed for hunting. Polar bears get tired too quickly and give up in long chases. However they can be threatening to most arctic mammals especially when they charge at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour. You might like to learn more about how fast can a polar bear run in the Arctic habitat.

    How Fast Do Polar Bears Run? – Polar Bear Top Speed

    The typical speed at which the polar bear travels within the home range is 0.5–2.1 km/h which is quite high in comparison to other terrestrial mammals. Polar bears are mostly most active from May to the end of July. During this period they are often seen running on the sea ice. Young bears regularly play and try to run with as much speed as possible but they remain close to the parents. As the sea ice becomes thin the bears go more active and their movements increase manifold.

    how fast do polar bears run
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    They will charge at the speed of about 40 km/h however the usual speed running speed is 30 km/h. Unlike arctic wolves, polar bears lack stamina. They cannot retain the speed of 30 kilometer per hour or above for more than few minutes. The thick coat and the dense fur prevent the bear from running. During running the metabolism rate goes high and the bear is exhausted.

    Polar bears are well adapted to running on the thick ice. Thanks to their pads that are extremely well developed and help the bear to have a firm grip on the surface. Brown bears are able to outrun polar bears with the maximum speed of about 56 km/h. However brown bears cannot outrun polar bears on the icy surface; they can only run fast on land.

    How Fast Do Polar Bears Run? – Video

  • How Fast Can a Polar Bear Swim?

    Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are generally known for their excellent swimming abilities. They are highly powerful swimmers for they can swim hundreds of miles across the bays. Ice bears are thought to swim for hours or even days without stopping. They will swim at a speed of about 10 km/h (6 mph). The unique adaptations of swimming and numerous hunting techniques make polar bear the deadliest predator in the Arctic Ocean. However what makes it the all-round predator is that the bear is equally good on land. Over the past recent years they have adapted to hunting on land by devising creative ways during warmer months. Let us learn more about how fast can a polar bear swim?

    How Fast Can a Polar Bear Swim?

    Polar bears never hesitate to swim as a matter of fact they love spending hours in water. There is a reason why they are also called marine mammals. They will cover 100 kilometers (62 miles) in a single journey with ease. One of bears holds the highest record in which it covered as much as 400 mi (687 km) in a single venture. She swam in the icy cold water of the Bering Sea. After taking rest for few hours she resumed her journey and covered another 1,100 miles (1,800 km). This shows that polar bears are no less than other marine mammals in their swimming traits.

    Polar bears possess the amazing ability to swim in the right direction even in darkness. This is quite handy because the darkness prevails as long as six months in the Arctic Circle.

    Scientists also observed swimming records of several female polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea. Researchers couldn’t estimate the timing of male bears because their necks were too thick to be fit in GPS-equipped collars. They recorded the maximum duration of 354 kilometers (220 mi) but most bears could swim for about 155 kilometers (96 mi) in one voyage.

    Read More: How Far Can a Polar Bear Swim?

    how fast can a polar bear swim
    Polar bears are almost marine mammals for they enjoy swimming as much as dolphins or whales do. How fast can a polar bear swim? Photo by Daily Express.

    How Long Do Polar Bears Swim without Stopping?

    Polar bears spend half of its life in swimming and one cannot cast doubts on how much time it takes in swimming. They are unarguably strong swimmers. White bears will swim for 7 – 10 hours a day. Scientists recorded the maximum time ever taken by a polar bear were 9 days. A female bear swam for about 9 days (or 216 hours) in the Bering Sea without resting.

    Read More: How Do Polar Bears Swim?

    How Deep Do Polar Bears Dive? | How Long can a Polar Bear Hold its Breadth?

    Polar bears typically dive 3 – 4.5 m (9.8 – 14.8 ft.) deep into the water and they can remain submerged for as long as three minutes. Normally they swim near the surface so that their nose remains exposed out of water. They don’t really swim underwater except in rare situations when they must follow seals or ice floes.

    How Deep Can a Polar Bear Dive?

    Researchers still need to study how deep polar bears actually dive into the sea. One of the researchers claimed that an individual bear dived as deep as 6 m (20 ft.) which might be the deepest dive for an arctic predator.

    The longest dive duration in polar bear’s dive is estimated at 3 minutes and 10 seconds and it covered a distance of about 45 to 50 m (148–164 ft.)

    How Fast Can a Polar Bear Swim? – Video

  • How Far Can a Polar Bear Smell?

    Polar bears have probably the best sense of smell throughout the entire animal kingdom. Dogs can detect any object hidden 40 feet underground if they stand right at the top. Polar bears, on the other hand, are able to smell seals 3 feet underneath the ice even if they stand at about 5,249 feet from the source. That is why they rely more on their smelling sense than on hearing or sight. The polar bears hearing sense is nearly equal to that of a normal human.

    How Far Can a Polar Bear Smell?

    Polar bears use their keen sense of smell not only to find seals but also to pick out the smell of their counterparts. While navigating through the arctic habitats, white bears will sniff on each step. This shows how much alert the bears are not only to the prey but also to any possible threat. This is quite handy during mating season when male bears must find females.

    Yes they probably do! Thanks to their remarkable sense of smell polar bears can afford to wait thousands of feet from the prey—letting herself to go unnoticed. The most popular hunting method is still hunting in which the bear crouches with light steps while approaching the seal breathing hole. She can wait for hours in order to allow the seal to swim near the surface. When the seal exhales the polar bear smells it and reaches for the kill.

    Read More: How Do Polar Bears Hunt Seals?

    A polar bear can detect the scent of its prey more than a mile away. How far can a polar bear smell its prey? Photo by: Vladimir Melnik/Shutterstock

    Polar Bears Olfactory Nerves

    The study of polar bear’s skull shows that the foramen (the opening or passage in the bone) is linked with 12 cranial nerves. The cribriform plate (a sieve-like structure between the anterior cranial fossa and the nasal cavity) supports the olfactory nerves. This is quite common in all animals which have acute smelling sense.

    The cranial nerve typically finds its way via optic foramen and punctures the orbitosphenoid bone. The orbital bone lies at the anterior lacerate foramen. The foramen rotundum together with the foramen ovale are thought to puncture alisphenoid bone. Scientists have recently come up with the discovery of another cranial nerve which lies at the olfactory nerve. These nerves assist the bear to locate prey which may be a mile away.

    Polar Bears can Smell Humans

    While polar bears do not normally eat humans they do however attack if they find one on their way. The olfactory signals help the bear to detect the human sweat. Sometimes it so happens that a hungry polar bear is navigating through the arctic and suddenly she finds hikers or photographers who have set a camp. All of a sudden she finds you as a prey. Furthermore the smell of a carcass can bring the bear near you so beware not to set up a camp near carcass.

    How Far Can a Polar Bear Smell? – Video

  • How Do Polar Bears Swim?

    How Do Polar Bears Swim?

    Polar bears are shallow divers and they swim in a dog-paddle style. Thanks to its forepaws which serve as propeller and push the animal through water to give it speed. The bear gets the buoyancy from her body fat which she gathers by eating a lot of seals. Bear’s forepaws are extremely helpful in paddling underwater without which the animal would not swim as much.

    Arctic bears can gain a speed of 10 kilometers per hour. Polar bears have large feet so that they do not only spread the animal’s weight (during walk) but also offers propulsion during swimming. The feet of a polar bear measure up to 30 cm (12 in) across. They close their nostrils when they dive into the water.

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  • How Do Polar Bears Hunt Seals?

    Not only do polar bears navigate through the arctic habitat on their own they also smell food from a mile away. The unique ability to smell prey (hidden 3 feet under the snow) allows polar bear to survive in the world’s most inhospitable environment. Clearly most other carnivores let alone bears would give up hunting in the Arctic habitat. This is what makes polar bears an apex predator in the arctic marine ecosystem.

    How Do Polar Bears Hunt Seals?

    Polar bears possess many characteristic adaptations that make them rather deadly predator in the arctic ecosystem. The unique hunting strategies, acute sense of smell, powerful long teeth adapted to chewing and crushing seal’s head, exceptional strength, good eyesight, and remarkable hearing—all combine to form formidable polar bears.

    In the Arctic Circle polar bears rely on seals for nutrition and why wouldn’t they? There are millions of seals living in the Arctic waters and when they emerge to the surface they become polar bear’s primary prey. Seals come to the surface for two reasons; one is to breathe and the other reason is to relax on the ice float. Polar bears must go after their prey during these times with no exception.

    Seals come to the surface for two reasons; one is to breathe and the other reason is to relax on the ice float. Polar bears must go after their prey during these times with no exception.

    Seals are the important prey of arctic bears—they love to eat seals all day long. However eating a seal and hunting a seal are two different things. Hunting an animal such as seal is challenging because seals possess equally good sense of smell. As the bear approaches the seal’s hole it (the seal) dives down into the water and escapes. It happens quite often and many polar bear’s attempts go in vain. But there are methods in the polar bear’s attempts. These methods are called polar bear’s hunting methods.

    how do polar bears hunt seals
    John Rollins — National Geographic Your Shot

    Polar Bear’s First Hunting Method

    Polar bears likely consume ringed seals (including pups) more readily as compared to bearded seals. They are thought to hunt in the direction of the wind precisely because bears sniff out all along on the sea ice. April is the ideal month when bear must look out ringed seal’s pups. Polar bears crush and eat the head of a pup if she is too hungry else the bear just leaves the head.

    The still-hunting is probably the most familiar and effective hunting method of polar bears. In this method bears rely on their acute sense of smell to search seal breathing hole.

    The still-hunting is probably the most familiar and effective hunting method of polar bears. In this method bears rely on their acute sense of smell to search seal breathing hole. The breathing hole is a point where seals show up for breathing. The white bear will crouch in close proximity to the hole as close as she possibly can. It does so without making sound. If the seal doesn’t show for hours the polar bear waits for hours. The predator remains calm, silent, and motionless all during this time. She is a patient hunter.

    When the right moment arrives and the bear smells a seal exhaling in its hole she (bear) smashes the ice with her forepaw and pull the seal onto the surface. Now the polar bear will crush the seal’s head and eat it later.

    Polar Bear’s Second Hunting Method

    Yet another polar bear’s hunting method is stalking. Just like land mammals polar bears stalk seals when they (seals) relax on the sea ice. The bear attempts to reach within 100 yards closer to the prey without getting noticed. If the seal remains unaware the bear inches to within 40 feet of the prey and then it sprints towards the seal for the final attempt. Bears rush for the final attempt when seals show its head again to scan the area.

    If the seal remains unaware the bear inches to within 40 feet of the prey and then it sprints towards the seal for the final attempt.

    In the past four years studies have photographed that adult polar bears catch and pursue lesser snow geese on land in the mid-summer. This shows a partly change not only in polar bear’s diet but also in her hunting techniques.

    Stalking has long proved to be useful for polar bears probably because they camouflage themselves during the hunt. Seals cannot spot bears since the bear’s white color blends with the arctic sea ice. As it turns out polar bears go unnoticed even when they get 5 – 10 meters close to the prey.