Polar Bear (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what the polar bear is, its habitat, feeding, reproduction and more. Also, what risks does it face as a species.

What is a polar bear?

It is known as polar bear or also white bear (due to the color of its fur, ideal for hunting between ice and snow) a species of quadruped mammal, typical of the frozen regions of the arctic which is one of the largest terrestrial carnivores today. Its scientific name is Ursus maritimus.

The polar bear belongs, logically, to the bear family (ursidae), a branch of carnivorous mammals that originated about 4.8 million years ago, and constitutes one of its youngest species, whose oldest fossils date from approximately 130,000 or 110,000 years ago, at which time it separated from the brown bear (Ursus arctos).

Although it was discovered as a species by the British Arctic explorer Constantine John Phipps (1744-1792) in 1774, the Inuit people had actually known it for a long time and referred to it in their language as “nanook”.

It is the only apex predator in the Arctic habitat: an animal as beautiful as it is fierce, an excellent swimmer and adapted to the inclement temperatures near the pole.

Its black skin, which attracts more solar radiation and helps conserve heat, is covered with translucent fur, which due to the effect of solar radiation appears white or sometimes yellowish, although in captivity it can turn greenish due to growth. of algae on its surface; something that, in its natural habitat, would never have happened.

Polar bear characteristics

The polar bear is a fascinating animal that has the following characteristics:

It is quadruped that is, it walks on its four legs, ending in sharp and short claws, designed for sea hunting.
His fur is white and it covers it completely, although underneath there is a rarely visible black skin. Beneath the skin and dermis they have a dense layer of fat that insulates the body from the environment, and which only thins on the head and snout.
Males of the species usually measure about 2.6 meters long and weigh between 350 and 680 kg, while females are around 2 meters and a few hundred kilograms lighter. It is, therefore, a very bulky and heavy animal.
are solitary hunters endowed with a prodigious sense of smell and a bite of 86.83 kilograms-force per square centimeter, that is, stronger than that of the white shark or the Bengal tiger.
have an amazing ability to swim: they can cover about 10 kilometers per hour of free swimming. However, their feeding always occurs in dry conditions. Its skin is also waterproof.
don't hibernate during the harsh arctic winter, and they spend around 50% of their life looking for food.

Where do polar bears live?

The habitat of polar bears It is restricted to the Arctic region, around the North Pole. Their populations are distributed as follows:

West of Alaska and Wrangel Island.
North of Alaska.
In the Canadian tundra (60% of polar bears live here).
In Greenland.
North of Russia.
In the Svalbard archipelago and the Fritjof Nansen Archipelago, north of the European continent.

What do polar bears eat?

polar bear food what it eats — The polar bear usually hunts marine mammals when they come to the surface to breathe.

The polar bear has an almost exclusively carnivorous diet interrupted only in the arctic summer to eat a small portion of vegetables. Being the top predator in the region, it usually hunts pups and adults of other marine mammals, such as seals and belugas, which they capture when they break the ice to come up to breathe, or the eventual young and defenseless walrus.

They can also feed on fish, or the eggs and young of seabirds, and even leftover food from human colonies. polar bears do not ingest water, but obtain it from the body fluids of their prey since in the Arctic the water is salty and acidic. And in conditions of scarcity, they can resort to cannibalism.

How do polar bears reproduce?

polar bear reproduction — The nursing time of the puppies lasts approximately five months.

The mating period is the only time of year when polar bears are friendly with each other, although fights between males for access to the female are common. Like all higher animals, Its reproduction is sexual and through internal fertilization although the fertilization of the female's egg occurs on a delayed basis, almost four months after copulation with the male.

This allows the female to store as much fat as possible to survive without eating, not only during childbirth, in which one or two puppies are usually given birth but during the breastfeeding period, which lasts approximately five months.

How long do polar bears live?

The life span of polar bears can reach a maximum of 30 years.

Is the polar bear in danger of extinction?

polar bear endangered — Global warming is destroying polar bear habitat.

Currently, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the polar bear is registered as a species in a vulnerable conservation status (VU), that is, its communities are under threat but not in immediate danger of extinction.