Polar bear facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Polar bearTemporal range:
Late Pleistocene – present (~120,000–0 YBP)
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| Female near Kaktovik, Barter Island, Alaska, United States | |
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Ursus
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| Species: |
maritimus
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| Polar bear range | |
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Ursus eogroenlandicus |
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The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a giant bear that lives in the very cold Arctic region. It is closely related to the brown bear. Sometimes, these two types of bears can even have cubs together. Polar bears are the biggest living bear species. They are also the largest meat-eating animals that live on land. Adult male polar bears can weigh between 300 and 800 kilograms (660 to 1,760 pounds). Females are much smaller than males. Polar bears have white or yellowish fur, black skin, and a thick layer of fat. They look a bit thinner than brown bears. They have a narrower head, a longer neck, and a lower bump on their shoulders. Their teeth are sharper, which helps them cut meat easily. Their big paws help them walk on ice and swim very well.
Polar bears live both on land and on ice. They are known as marine mammals because they depend on the ocean for their food. They prefer to live on the sea ice that forms each year. When the ice melts in summer, they move to land. They mostly eat meat and are very good at hunting seals, especially ringed seals. They usually catch seals by surprise. A bear might sneak up on a seal on the ice or in the water. It might also wait by a breathing hole or the edge of the ice for a seal to swim by. The bear mainly eats the seal's fatty blubber. This gives them lots of energy. They also hunt walruses, beluga whales, and some land animals. Polar bears usually live alone. However, they can be seen in groups on land. During mating season, male bears protect females from other males. Mothers give birth to cubs in special maternity dens during winter. Young cubs stay with their mothers for up to two and a half years.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says the polar bear is a vulnerable species. This means it is at a high risk of disappearing from the wild. There are an estimated 22,000 to 31,000 polar bears left. Their biggest problems are climate change, pollution, and energy development. Climate change has caused the sea ice to shrink. This means polar bears have less access to their favorite food. This can make them hungry or even starve. Less sea ice also makes bears spend more time on land. This can lead to problems with people. People, including native groups, have hunted polar bears for their fur, meat, and other parts. They have also been kept in zoos and circuses. Polar bears are important in art, stories, and modern culture.
Contents
Discovering Polar Bears: Names and History
The polar bear got its common name from Thomas Pennant in 1771. Before that, Europeans called it the "white bear," "ice bear," or "sea bear." The Norse people called it isbjørn (ice bear) and hvitebjørn (white bear). The Inuit people call it nanook. The Netsilik culture even has different names for bears based on their age and sex. For example, an adult male is anguraq, and a newborn is hagliaqtug. The scientific name, Ursus maritimus, means "sea bear" in Latin.
How Scientists Classify Polar Bears
Carl Linnaeus first grouped the polar bear with brown bears in 1758. But in 1774, Constantine John Phipps officially described the polar bear as its own unique species, Ursus maritimus. This happened after his trip to the North Pole. Some scientists thought the polar bear should have its own group, Thalarctos. This was because it is so well-adapted to the ocean. However, most scientists agree that Ursus is the correct group. This is based on old bones and the fact that polar bears can breed with brown bears.
Scientists have suggested different types of polar bears, called subspecies. But these ideas are not widely accepted. The polar bear is now considered a single species without different subspecies. One fossil subspecies, Ursus maritimus tyrannus, was once thought to be a giant polar bear. However, later studies showed that the fossil likely came from a very large brown bear instead.
The Evolution of Polar Bears
The polar bear is one of eight living species in the bear family, Ursidae. It is also one of six living species in the Ursinae group.
Finding polar bear fossils is rare. The oldest known fossil is a jaw bone, about 130,000 to 110,000 years old. It was found in Norway in 2004. In the 20th century, scientists believed polar bears came directly from brown bears. This might have happened in eastern Siberia or Alaska. Studies of Mitochondrial DNA in the 1990s and 2000s supported this idea. They found that some brown bear groups were more closely related to polar bears than to other brown bears. A 2010 study estimated that polar bears separated from other brown bears about 150,000 years ago.
More recent genetic studies have changed this view. They show that polar bears are not directly from brown bears. Instead, they are two separate but related groups. The genetic similarities between them are due to interbreeding (when two different species mate). A 2012 study estimated that polar and brown bears split about 600,000 years ago. A 2022 study suggested it happened even earlier, over one million years ago. Ice ages over hundreds of thousands of years led to the creation of polar bears. They also caused later mixing with brown bears.
Studies in 2011 and 2012 thought that genes moved from brown bears to polar bears during interbreeding. But later studies clarified that genes actually moved from polar bears to brown bears. Up to 9% of the genes in some brown bears came from polar bears. Mass interbreeding between the two species seems to have stopped around 200,000 years ago. Today, modern hybrids are rare in the wild.
Scientists have also looked at how genes vary in polar bears. This shows how polar bears have adapted. Polar bears have fewer genes for smelling. This is because there are fewer different smells in their Arctic home. Since they eat a high-fat, meat-only diet, they have fewer genes for breaking down starch. Instead, they have more genes for breaking down fat and for a very efficient circulatory system (blood flow). Their thick coat comes from more genes that create keratin proteins.
What Makes a Polar Bear Special?
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The polar bear is the largest living bear species. It is also the biggest land carnivore (meat-eater). Some brown bear types, like the Kodiak bear, can be similar in size. Males are usually 200–250 cm (6.6–8.2 ft) long. They weigh 300–800 kg (660–1,760 lb). Females are smaller, at 180–200 cm (5.9–6.6 ft) long. They weigh 150–300 kg (330–660 lb). The size difference between male and female polar bears is very noticeable. Male polar bears also have larger heads than females. A polar bear's weight changes throughout the year. They can gain a lot of fat, increasing their body mass by 50%. A pregnant female, full of fat, can weigh as much as 500 kg (1,100 lb). Adults can stand 130–160 cm (4.3–5.2 ft) tall at the shoulder. Their tail is short, about 76–126 mm (3.0–5.0 in) long. The biggest polar bear ever recorded weighed 1,002 kg (2,209 lb). It was a male shot in Alaska in 1960.
Compared to a brown bear, a polar bear has a more slender body. Its head is narrower, flatter, and smaller. It has a longer neck and a lower hump on its shoulders. Its snout curves, looking a bit like a "Roman nose". They have 34–42 teeth. Their teeth are made for eating more meat than a brown bear's. They have longer, sharper, and more spaced-out canines (pointed teeth). Their cheek teeth (premolars and molars) are smaller and more pointed. There's a large gap between their canines and cheek teeth. This might help them bite into prey better. Since they usually hunt animals smaller than themselves, polar bears don't have an extremely strong bite. Polar bears have large paws. Their front paws are wider than the back ones. Their feet are hairier than other bears. This keeps them warm and helps them grip snow and ice. Their claws are small but sharp and hooked. They use them to grab prey and climb onto ice.
Their coat has dense underfur about 5 cm (2 in) long. It also has longer guard hairs about 15 cm (6 in) long. Males have long hairs on their front legs. This might show how strong and healthy they are to females. The outer part of the hairs looks scaly, and the guard hairs are hollow. This helps the bears trap heat and float in water. The clear guard hairs scatter ultraviolet light between the underfur and skin. This process helps keep them warm. Their fur looks white because light scatters off it. There is no color pigment in the fur. Polar bears can get a yellowish color when they are in the sun a lot. This goes away after they shed their fur. Their fur can also be grayish or brownish. Their light fur helps them camouflage in their snowy home. After swimming, the bear can easily shake itself dry because its hairs don't tangle when wet. Special oils keep their hair from freezing. Their skin, including their nose and lips, is black. This helps absorb heat. Polar bears have a 5–10 cm (2–4 in) thick layer of fat under their skin. This provides both warmth and energy. Polar bears keep their body temperature around 36.9°C (98.4°F). To avoid overheating, they have a layer of muscle and blood vessels that help them cool down. Bears also cool off by going into the water.
A polar bear's eyes are high on its head. This might allow them to keep their head out of the water while swimming. Their eyes are quite small. This might be an adaptation against blowing snow and snow blindness. Polar bears are dichromats. This means they can't see medium (mostly green) wavelengths of light. They have many rod cells, which help them see well at night. Their ears are small. This helps them keep warm and avoid frostbite. They hear best at frequencies of 11.2–22.5 kHz. This is a wider range than expected, as their prey mostly makes low-frequency sounds. Their nasal concha (part of the nose) creates a large surface area. This allows more warm air to move through their nasal passages. Their sense of smell is also very strong. It helps them find prey from far away. They have special kidneys that filter out salt from their food.
Where Do Polar Bears Live?
Polar bears live in the Arctic and nearby areas. Their home range includes Greenland, Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Norway's Svalbard Archipelago. Polar bears have been seen as close as 25 km (16 mi) from the North Pole. The southernmost parts of their range are in Canada and Alaska. They don't live permanently in Iceland. But they have visited if they can reach it by sea ice. Because humans haven't moved into their remote habitat much, polar bears still live in most of their original areas. This is more than any other large land carnivore.
Polar bears are divided into at least 18 groups called subpopulations. These include groups in the East Greenland, Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Chukchi Sea, and northern and southern Beaufort Sea areas. A 2022 study suggested that bears in southeast Greenland should be a separate subpopulation. This is because they are geographically isolated and genetically different. Polar bear populations can also be grouped into four main genetic clusters.
Polar bears depend so much on the ocean that they are considered marine mammals. They love ice and mainly live on the yearly sea ice that covers continental shelves and areas between islands. These areas, called the "Arctic Ring of Life," have lots of life. Polar bears often go to places where sea ice meets water, like open water areas or cracks in the ice. This is where they hunt the seals that make up most of their diet. Polar bears move as the ice changes throughout the year. They are forced onto land in summer when the sea ice melts. When on land, polar bears use forests, mountains, rocky areas, lakeshores, and creeks. In some areas, where the sea ice breaks off and floats north in summer, polar bears usually stay on the ice. However, a large part of the population (15–40%) has been spending all summer on land since the 1980s. Some areas have very thick, old ice that doesn't melt completely. Bears can stay on this ice all year. But this type of ice has fewer seals and less food in the water.
How Polar Bears Live: Behavior and Ecology
Polar bears can travel in areas as small as 3,500 square kilometers (1,350 sq mi). They can also travel in areas as large as 38,000 square kilometers (14,670 sq mi) in a year. Drifting ice helps them move even further. Depending on the ice, a bear can travel about 12 km (7.5 mi) per day. Their high-energy diet powers these movements. Polar bears move by walking and galloping (running fast). They don't trot (a medium-speed gait). When walking, bears tilt their front paws inward. They can run up to 40 km/h (25 mph) but usually move around 5.5 km/h (3.4 mph). Polar bears are also great swimmers. They can swim up to 6 km/h (3.7 mph). One study found they can swim for an average of 3.4 days at a time, covering about 154.2 km (95.8 mi). They can dive underwater for up to three minutes. When swimming, their wide front paws do the paddling. Their back legs help with steering and diving.
Most polar bears are active all year. Only pregnant females hibernate. Bears that don't hibernate usually follow a normal 24-hour cycle. This is true even during days of constant darkness or constant sunlight. However, shorter cycles are more common during the dark periods. Polar bears are generally active during the day, especially early in the morning. They sleep about eight hours a day on average. They sleep in many positions, like curled up, sitting, or lying on their side. On sea ice, polar bears nap in sheltered spots where they dig into the snow. After a snowstorm, a bear might rest under the snow for hours or days. On land, bears might dig a resting spot on beaches. They also sleep on rocky areas. In coastal mountains, mothers and young bears sleep on slopes where they can see other bears coming. Adult males are less worried about other bears and and can sleep almost anywhere.
Social Life of Polar Bears
Polar bears are usually solitary animals. The main exceptions are mothers with cubs and mating pairs. On land, they are found closer together and gather around food sources. Adult males, especially, are more tolerant of each other on land and outside of mating season. They have even been seen forming stable "alliances," traveling, resting, and playing together. There is a dominance hierarchy among polar bears. The largest adult males are at the top. Adult females rank higher than younger bears. Younger males rank higher than females of the same age. Also, cubs with their mothers rank higher than cubs on their own. Females with young cubs tend to stay away from males. But sometimes they join other female-cub groups, forming "composite families."
Polar bears are generally quiet, but they can make different sounds. Mothers make a soft, pulsing call called "chuffing." This is probably to stay in touch with their young. During mating season, adult males will chuff at females they want to mate with. Unlike other animals, polar bears make this sound through a partly open mouth. Cubs will cry for attention and hum while nursing. Teeth chops, jaw pops, huffs, moans, growls, and roars are heard in more aggressive situations. A polar bear uses its eyes, ears, nose, and lips to communicate visually. Chemical communication is also important. Bears leave their scent from their foot pads in their tracks. This helps other bears track each other.
What Do Polar Bears Eat and How Do They Hunt?
The polar bear is a hypercarnivore. This means it eats almost only meat. It is the most carnivorous bear species. It is also the top predator in the Arctic. It hunts ice-living seals and eats their fatty blubber, which is full of energy. The most common prey is the ringed seal. These seals are perfect because they are common and small enough for even smaller bears to overpower. Adult bearded seals are larger and can often escape a bear. So, adult male bears are more successful at hunting them. Less common prey include hooded seals, spotted seals, ribbon seals, and harbour seals. Polar bears, mostly adult males, sometimes hunt walruses on both land and ice. They mainly target young walruses. Adult walruses are too big and dangerous with their thick skin and long tusks.
Besides seals, bears will hunt cetacean species like beluga whales and narwhals. They also eat reindeer, birds and their eggs, fish, and marine invertebrates (animals without backbones that live in the sea). They rarely eat plants because their digestive system is made for animal matter. However, they have been seen eating berries, moss, grass, and seaweed. In their southern range, especially near Hudson Bay, polar bears spend the whole summer without sea ice to hunt from. They have to eat more land-based foods. Their fat reserves allow polar bears to survive for months without eating.
Polar bears hunt their prey in several ways. When a bear sees a seal resting on the sea ice, it slowly sneaks up. Its head and neck are lowered, perhaps to hide its dark nose and eyes. As it gets closer, the bear crouches more. Finally, it charges at high speed, trying to catch the seal before it can escape into its ice hole. Some bears need to go through water to stalk prey. They might swim through water channels in the ice or swim towards a seal on an ice floe. The polar bear can stay underwater with just its nose showing. When it gets close enough, the animal lunges from the water to attack.
For a short time in spring, polar bears look for ringed seal pups in their birth dens under the ice. Once a bear smells a hidden pup and finds its exact spot, it approaches the den quietly. It does this to avoid alerting the pup. It then uses its front paws to smash through the ice. Then it pokes its head in to catch the pup before it can escape. A ringed seal's den can be more than 1 meter (3.3 ft) below the ice surface. So, larger bears are better at breaking in. Some bears may simply stay still near a breathing hole or other spot near the water. They wait for prey to come by. This can last for hours. When a seal surfaces, the bear will try to pull it out with its paws and claws. This method is the main way they hunt from winter to early spring.
Bears hunt walrus groups by making them stampede. Then they look for young walruses that have been crushed or separated from their mothers. There are stories of bears trying to kill or injure walruses by throwing rocks and ice pieces at them. Belugas and narwhals are easy targets for bears when they get stuck in shallow water or isolated breathing holes in the ice. When stalking reindeer, polar bears hide in plants before ambushing them. Sometimes, bears might try to catch prey in open water, swimming under a seal or aquatic bird. However, seals are more agile than bears in the water. Polar bears use their raw strength to kill prey. They use bites and paw swipes. They are strong enough to pull a medium-sized seal out of the water or drag a beluga carcass a long way. Polar bears only sometimes store food for later, burying it under snow, and only for a short time.
Arctic foxes often follow polar bears and eat scraps from their kills. The bears usually let them. But they will chase a fox that gets too close while they are eating. Polar bears themselves will also scavenge (eat leftovers). Younger bears will eat remains left by others. Females with cubs often leave a carcass if they see an adult male coming. But they are less likely to leave if they haven't eaten in a long time. Whale carcasses are a very important food source, especially on land after the sea ice melts. They attract many bears. In one area in Alaska, polar bears have been seen competing with grizzly bears for whale carcasses. Even though grizzlies are smaller, they are more aggressive. Polar bears usually give way to them in fights. Polar bears also scavenge at garbage dumps when there is no ice.
Reproduction and Life Cycle of Polar Bears
Polar bear mating happens on the sea ice during spring, mostly between March and May. Males look for females ready to mate. They often travel in twisting paths. This reduces the chance of meeting other males. It also helps them find females. Females move in straighter lines and travel more widely. The mating system can involve one male mating with multiple females. Or, males and females can mate with several partners.
When a male finds a female, he tries to keep her separate and guard her. Courtship can be a bit aggressive. A male will chase a female if she tries to run away. It can take days for the male to mate with the female. This mating triggers her to release eggs. After their first mating, the pair forms a bond. If undisturbed, polar bear pairs usually stay together for about two weeks. During this time, they will sleep together and mate many times. Competition for mates can be fierce. This has led to bigger males being more successful. Male polar bears often have scars from fighting. A male and female that have already bonded will run away together if another male arrives. A female mates with multiple males in a season. A single litter can have cubs from more than one father.
When the mating season ends, the female will build up more fat. This fat will support both herself and her young. Sometime between August and October, the female builds and enters a maternity den for winter. Depending on the area, dens can be on sea ice near the coast or further inland. They might be dug under snow, earth, or both. The inside of these dens can be about 1.5 meters (5 ft) wide. The ceiling height can be 1.2 meters (4 ft). The entrance might be 2.1 meters (7 ft) long and 1.2 meters (4 ft) wide. The temperature inside a den can be much warmer than outside. Females hibernate and give birth to their cubs in these dens. Hibernating bears fast (don't eat) and recycle body waste internally. Polar bears experience delayed implantation. This means the fertilized embryo doesn't start developing until the fall, between mid-September and mid-October. With delayed implantation, the total gestation (pregnancy) lasts seven to nine months. But the actual development of the cub is only two months.
Mother polar bears usually give birth to two cubs per litter. Like other bear species, newborn polar bears are tiny and helpless. Newborns have woolly hair and pink skin. They weigh about 600 grams (1.3 lb). Their eyes stay closed for a month. The mother's fatty milk helps them grow. The cubs are kept warm by their mother's body heat and the den. The mother comes out of the den between late February and early April. Her cubs are well-developed and can walk with her. At this time, they weigh 10–15 kg (22–33 lb). A polar bear family stays near the den for about two weeks. During this time, the cubs will move and play, while the mother mostly rests. They eventually head out onto the sea ice.
Cubs under a year old stay close to their mother. When she hunts, they stay still and watch until she calls them back. Watching and copying their mother helps the cubs learn hunting skills. After their first year, they become more independent and explore. By about two years old, they can hunt on their own. The young drink milk from their mother while she is lying on her side or sitting. A female that is nursing cannot get pregnant and give birth. Cubs are weaned (stop drinking milk) between two and two and a half years old. The mother may simply leave her weaned young. Or, they might be chased away by a male looking to mate. Polar bears become sexually mature around four years old for females and six years old for males. Females reach their adult size at 4 or 5 years old. Males are fully grown at twice that age.
How Long Do Polar Bears Live?
Polar bears can live up to 30 years. Their long lifespan and ability to have many young help balance out cub deaths in a population. Some cubs die in the dens or before birth if the female is not healthy. However, the female has a chance to have a surviving litter the next spring if she can eat better. Cubs will starve if their mothers cannot catch enough prey. Cubs also face dangers from wolves and adult male bears. A female and her cubs can run away from a slower male. If the male gets close to a cub, the mother might try to fight him off, sometimes risking her own life.
Young bears, who are independent but not yet fully grown, have a particularly hard time. They are not as good at hunting as adults. Even when they do succeed, their kill will likely be stolen by a larger bear. So, young bears often have to scavenge. They are often underweight and at risk of starving. As adults, polar bears have a high survival rate. However, adult males can get injured from fights over mates. Polar bears are especially vulnerable to Trichinella, a parasitic roundworm. They get this worm by eating other polar bears.
Protecting Polar Bears: Conservation Status
In 2015, the IUCN Red List classified the polar bear as vulnerable. This is because their habitat is shrinking and changing. The total population was estimated to be between 22,000 and 31,000 bears. The current population trend is unknown. Threats to polar bear populations include climate change, pollution, and energy development.
In 2021, the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group reported on different subpopulations. Four groups were "likely stable." Two groups were "likely increased." Three groups were "likely decreased" between the 1980s and 2010s. The remaining ten groups did not have enough data. A 2008 study predicted that two-thirds of the world's polar bears might disappear by 2050. This is due to the reduction of sea ice. A 2016 study projected a likely decline of more than 30% in polar bear numbers over three generations. A 2020 study suggested that in a worst-case climate scenario, most subpopulations would disappear by 2100. Even an intermediate scenario would see some groups disappear. However, a 2025 study warned that previous models might be too sensitive to assumptions.
The main danger from climate change is that bears will be hungry or starve due to habitat loss. Polar bears hunt seals on sea ice. Rising temperatures cause the ice to melt earlier in the year. This forces bears to shore before they have stored enough fat. This fat helps them survive when food is scarce in late summer and early fall. Thinner sea ice also breaks more easily. This makes it harder for polar bears to reach seals. Not enough food leads to fewer cubs being born and lower survival rates for cubs and young bears. Lack of access to seals also makes bears look for food on land. This increases the risk of problems with humans. A 2024 study found that eating more land-based foods during longer warm periods is unlikely to provide enough nutrition. This increases the risk of starvation during ice-free times. Young bears would be especially vulnerable.
Less sea ice also forces bears to swim longer distances. This uses up their energy and sometimes leads to drowning. More ice movement might mean less stable places for dens. Or it might mean longer distances for mothers traveling to and from dens on land. Melting permafrost could make den roofs more likely to catch fire. Less snow might affect how well dens are insulated. More rain could cause more cave-ins. Stress levels in polar bears have increased with climate warming. Diseases caused by bacteria and parasites would also spread more easily in a warmer climate.
Oil and gas development also affects polar bear habitat. The Chukchi Sea area in Alaska, which has many drilling leases, is an important place for female bears not in dens. Oil spills are also a risk. A 2018 study found that 10% or less of prime bear habitat in the Chukchi Sea is at risk from a potential spill. But a large spill could affect nearly 40% of the polar bear population. Polar bears build up high levels of harmful chemicals like PCBs and pesticides. This is because they are at the top of the ecological pyramid (food chain). Many of these chemicals have been banned worldwide because they harm the environment. Traces of them have slowly decreased in polar bears. But they still exist and have even increased in some populations.
Polar bears have some legal protection in all the countries where they live. The species has been listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act since 2008. In Canada, it has been listed as a species of 'Special concern' since 1991. In 1973, the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears was signed by all five nations with polar bear populations: Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Russia, Norway, and the US. This agreement banned most hunting of polar bears. It allowed indigenous hunting using traditional methods and promoted protecting bear habitat. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna lists the species under Appendix II. This allows regulated trade.
Polar Bears and People: A Long History
Polar bears have lived alongside and interacted with circumpolar peoples for thousands of years. "White bears" were mentioned in a Japanese book in the seventh century as trade items. It's not clear if these were polar bears or white-colored brown bears. During the Middle Ages, Europeans saw white bears as something new and exciting. They were more familiar with brown and black bears. The first known written story of a polar bear in its natural home is from a 13th-century Norwegian text. It says the "white bear of Greenland wanders most of the time on the ice of the sea, hunting seals and whales and feeding on them." It also says the bear is "as skillful a swimmer as any seal or whale."
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Over the next few centuries, many European explorers wrote about polar bears and their habits. These stories became more accurate after the Age of Enlightenment. Both living and dead bears were brought back to Europe. Still, some wild stories continued, like the idea that polar bears cover their noses while hunting. A fairly accurate drawing of a polar bear is in Henry Ellis's book A Voyage to Hudson's Bay (1748). Polar bears were officially classified as a species by Constantine Phipps after his 1773 trip to the Arctic. A young Horatio Nelson was with him. He reportedly wanted a polar bear coat for his father but failed to hunt one. In his 1785 book Histoire Naturelle, Comte de Buffon mentioned and showed a "sea bear" (clearly a polar bear) and "land bears" (likely brown and black bears). This helped spread ideas about how species form.
Hunting and Use of Polar Bears
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People have hunted polar bears for at least 8,000 years. This is shown by old remains found on Zhokhov Island in Russia. The oldest picture of a polar bear shows a man hunting it with three dogs. This rock art was found in Siberia and dates from the fifth to eighth centuries. Before firearms, native people used spears, bows, and arrows. They hunted in groups with dogs. Killing a polar bear was a special event for boys in some cultures. It showed they were becoming adults. Native people respected the animal, and hunts followed strict traditions. Bears were hunted for their fur, meat, fat, tendons, bones, and teeth. The fur was used for clothes and bedding. Bones and teeth were made into tools. For the Netsilik people, the person who killed the bear got its fur. The meat was shared with everyone in the hunting party.
Norsemen in Greenland traded polar bear furs in the Middle Ages. Russia traded polar bear products as early as 1556. Large-scale hunting of bears in Svalbard began at least in the 18th century. Over 150 bears were killed each year by Russian explorers. In the next century, more Norwegians hunted bears on the island. From the 1870s to the 1970s, about 22,000 bears were hunted in total. Over 150,000 polar bears were killed or captured in Russia and Svalbard from the 18th to the 20th century. In the Canadian Arctic, commercial whalers hunted bears, especially if they couldn't catch enough whales. The Hudson's Bay Company sold an estimated 15,000 polar bear coats between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the mid-20th century, countries started to control polar bear hunting. This led to the 1973 agreement.
Arctic explorers and sailors often ate polar bear meat as food. Opinions on its taste varied greatly. Some said it was too tough and strong-smelling. Others called it a "royal dish." The liver was known to be too poisonous to eat. This is because it contains too much vitamin A from the bears' prey. Polar bear fat was also used in lamps when other fuel was not available. Polar bear rugs were common on the floors of Norwegian churches in the 13th and 14th centuries. In more modern times, famous Hollywood actors like Marilyn Monroe posed on bearskin rugs.
When Polar Bears and Humans Clash
When the sea ice melts, polar bears, especially younger ones, sometimes come into conflict with humans over food on land. They are attracted to the smell of human food, especially at garbage dumps. They might be shot if they come onto private property. In Churchill, Manitoba, local authorities have a "polar bear jail." Nuisance bears are held there until the sea ice freezes again. Climate change has increased these conflicts. In February 2019, over 50 polar bears swarmed a town in Russia. This led local authorities to declare a state of emergency.
From 1870 to 2014, there were about 73 polar bear attacks on humans. These attacks led to 20 deaths. Most attacks were by hungry males, usually younger bears. Female attacks were usually to protect their cubs. Compared to brown and American black bears, polar bear attacks happened more often near human homes. This might be because the bears are desperate for food and more likely to seek out human settlements. Like other bear species, polar bears are unlikely to attack more than two people at once. Although people often think polar bears are the most dangerous bears, they are no more aggressive towards humans than other bear species.
Polar Bears in Zoos and Circuses
For a long time, the polar bear was highly desired by collectors of exotic animals. This was because it was rare, lived in remote areas, and had a reputation as a fierce beast. It is one of the few marine mammals that reproduce well in captivity. Originally, only royalty and wealthy people kept them. The Tower of London received a polar bear as early as 1252. In 1609, James VI and I was given two polar bear cubs. Later, polar bears were shown to the public in zoos and circuses. In the early 19th century, the species was displayed in London, Vienna, and Paris. The first zoo in North America to show a polar bear was the Philadelphia Zoo in 1859.
Carl Hagenbeck changed how polar bear exhibits were designed. He replaced cages with settings that looked like the animal's natural home. In 1907, he opened a complex display at the Tierpark Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany. It had artificial snow and ice areas separated by moats. Different Arctic animals were shown on each platform, making it seem like they lived together. Starting in 1975, Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich housed its polar bears in an exhibit with a glass barrier, a house, concrete platforms like ice floes, and a large pool. Inside the house were dens for mothers and rooms for staff to prepare food. The exhibit was connected to an outdoor yard for more space. Similar natural-looking exhibits opened in the early 21st century, like the "Arctic Ring of Life" at the Detroit Zoo. Many zoos in Europe and North America have stopped keeping polar bears because of the large size and high costs of their complex exhibits. In North America, the number of polar bears in zoos peaked in 1975 with 229 animals and has declined since.
Polar bears have also been trained to perform in circuses. Bears, in general, were popular in circuses because they are large, powerful, easy to train, and look somewhat human-like. The white coat of polar bears made them especially appealing. Circuses helped change the polar bear's image from a scary monster to something more funny. Performing polar bears were used by Circus Krone in Germany in 1888. Circus director Wilhelm Hagenbeck trained up to 75 polar bears to slide into a large tank. He started performing with them in 1908. Other circus tricks performed by polar bears included tightropes, balls, roller skates, and motorcycles. One of the most famous polar bear trainers in the late 20th century was Ursula Böttcher from East Germany. Her small size contrasted with the large bears. Starting in the late 20th century, most polar bear acts were stopped. The use of these bears for circuses is now banned in the US.
Several captive polar bears became famous in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. One was Knut from the Berlin Zoological Garden. His mother rejected him, so zookeepers had to raise him by hand. Another bear, Binky from the Alaska Zoo, became famous for attacking two visitors who got too close. Captive polar bears may pace back and forth. This is a repetitive behavior. In one study, they spent 14% of their days pacing. Gus from the Central Park Zoo was given medicine for constantly swimming in his pool. To reduce these behaviors, zookeepers give bears enrichment items to encourage play. In warm conditions, algae can grow in their fur, making zoo polar bears appear green.
Polar Bears in Culture
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Polar bears play important roles in Inuit culture and religion. The god Torngarsuk is sometimes imagined as a giant polar bear. He lives under the sea floor in an underworld and controls sea creatures. Kalaallit shamans would worship him through singing and dancing. It was believed that shamans could reach the Moon or the bottom of the ocean by riding on a guardian spirit that looked like a polar bear. Some stories involve people turning into polar bears by wearing their skins. Or, polar bears taking off their skins to become human. In Inuit astronomy, the Pleiades star cluster is seen as a polar bear trapped by dogs. Orion's Belt, the Hyades, and Aldebaran represent hunters, dogs, and a wounded bear.
Nordic folklore and literature also feature polar bears. In The Tale of Auðun of the West Fjords (around 1275), a poor man buys a polar bear in Greenland. He becomes rich after giving the bear to the king of Denmark. In the story of The Grimsey Man and the Bear, a mother bear nurses and rescues a farmer stuck on an ice floe. She is repaid with sheep meat. 18th-century Icelandic writings mention the legend of a "polar bear king" called the bjarndýrakóngur. This creature was a polar bear with "ruddy cheeks" and a unicorn-like horn that glowed in the dark. The king could understand human speech and was thought to be very clever. Two Norwegian fairy tales, "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" and "White-Bear-King-Valemon", involve white bears turning into men and charming women.
Drawings of polar bears have appeared on maps of northern regions. Perhaps the earliest depiction of a polar bear on a map is the Swedish Carta marina from 1539. It shows a white bear on Iceland. A 1544 map of North America includes two polar bears near Quebec. Famous paintings featuring polar bears include François-Auguste Biard's Fighting Polar Bears (1839) and Edwin Landseer's Man Proposes, God Disposes (1864). Polar bears have also been filmed for movies. An Inuit polar bear hunt was filmed for the 1932 documentary Igloo. In modern books, polar bears have been characters in children's fiction, like Hans Beer's Little Polar Bear and the Whales and Sakiasi Qaunaq's The Orphan and the Polar Bear. They also appear in fantasy novels, like Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series. On radio, Mel Blanc voiced Jack Benny's pet polar bear Carmichael on The Jack Benny Program. The polar bear is featured on flags and coats of arms, like the coat of arms of Greenland. It is also in many advertisements, especially for Coca-Cola since 1922.
As charismatic megafauna (popular large animals), polar bears have been used to raise awareness about the dangers of climate change. Aurora the polar bear is a giant marionette created by Greenpeace for climate protests. The World Wide Fund for Nature has sold plush polar bears as part of its "Arctic Home" campaign. Photographs of polar bears have been featured in National Geographic and Time magazines, including pictures of them standing on ice floes. The climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth (2006) includes an animated bear swimming. Automobile manufacturer Nissan used a polar bear in one of its commercials, hugging a man for using an electric car. To make a statement about global warming, a Copenhagen ice statue of a polar bear with a bronze skeleton was purposely left to melt in the sun in 2009.
Images for kids
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Polar bear skeleton
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Bear skull
See also
In Spanish: Oso polar para niños
- 2011 Svalbard polar bear attack
- International Polar Bear Day
- List of individual bears – includes individual captive polar bears
- Polar Bears International – conservation organization
- Polar Bear Shores – an exhibit featuring polar bears at Sea World in Australia
