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Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus)
Mother Nature through the eons helped the Polar Bear to evolve from the grizzly bear. This makes it possible for the Polar Bear to survive even in the harshest Arctic winters. The frigid, stormy, and icy Arctic is a Polar Bear's utopia. Standing on its hind feet a Polar Bear can reach a height of 8 1/4 to 11 1/2 feet in height and may weigh from 1,100 to 1,300 pounds. When standing on all four feet the Polar Bear is about 3 1/2 feet high at the shoulders. The average life span of a wild Polar Bear is about 25 years and they can run at full speed close to 40 miles per hour. After mating the polar bear's gestation period is about 220 days. Today the population is relatively stable with a worldwide population of 20,000-40,000 bears. The largest population of polar bears resides in Canada with a population of about 15,000. Physical Characteristics Polar bars have smaller heads than other bears and a longer neck. Their neck is longer with a short tail and short ears because they are good swimmers. Because the Polar Bear is mostly a meat eater their teeth are lengthy and pointed and sharper. Their fur has two layers. The hair next to their body is fine and colored white and the outer hairs are hollow. The sun warms the hollow outside hairs and then the bear transfers the heat to warm itself in the cold frigid north. another adaptation for swimming. The polar bear being a very good swimmer can swim up to sixty miles at one time and stay underwater for two minutes. They usually inhabit areas near where the seas meet the shoreline. Polar Bears don't really have a home turf like other bears. They mainly roam and do not protect the territory where they live. A Polar Bear, being on the move constantly may travel over 100,000 square miles in their life time. Polar Bears inhabit all polar regions in the northern hemisphere. The diet of the polar bear consists of almost entirely meat. The Arctic Seals are their principal food and they may eat one seal every few days. They can go weeks without food because of their large stomach. Their stomach can hold up to 150 pounds of food. During the summer months when the food sources are less the Polar Bear will eat anything it finds including bird eggs, berries, rodents, and carrion as well. Hunting alone for anything from seals to large fish, or scavenging for dead whale or walrus, the polar bear uses a sense of smell 100 times better than man's sense of smell. Go To Page: 1 2 |
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