Basic+Info

The polar bear or the sea/ice bear are the world's largest land predators. They can be found in the Artic, the U.S. (Alaska), Canada, Russia, Denmark (Greenland), and Norway. Each of these countries either banned hunting or established rules for how many polar bears could be hunted within its own boundaries. These rules help keep polar bear populations stable. Today, 25,000 to 40,000 polar bears roam the Arctic.

Around the age of four or five the female polar bear can start having babies. They usually only have two cubs and they have these babies in a cave they've dug in a large snow drift. They stay there over winter and come out in spring with the babies. The babies are much smaller than human babies when they're born. They are the size of a rat and weigh little more than a pound. They can grow to full man size in a year if they have lots of food.

Male polar bears may grow 10 feet tall and weigh over 1400 pounds. Females reach seven feet and weigh 650 pounds. In the wild polar bears live up to age 25.

Despite what we think, a polar bear's fur is not white. Each hair is clear hollow tube. Polar bears look white because each hollow hair reflects the light. On sunny days, it traps the sun's infrared heat and keeps the bear warm at 98 degrees F (when they're resting). Polar bear fur is oily and water repellent. The hairs don't mat when wet, allowing the polar bears to easily shake free of water and any ice that may form after swimming.

Polar bears primarily eat seals. They often rest silently at a seal’s breathing hole in the ice, waiting for a seal in the water to surface. Once the seal comes up, the bear will spring and sink its jagged teeth into the seal’s head. Sometimes the polar bear stalks its prey. It may see a seal lying near its breathing hole and slowly move toward it, then charge it, biting its head or grabbing it with its massive claws. A polar bear may also hunt by swimming beneath the ice.

Humans are the polar bears only predator. Baby polar bears often starve. In fact, 70 percent do not live to their third birthday. Sometimes seals are hard to find, especially in the summer when the ice has melted. All across the Arctic, man is moving in to mine oil and coal and there is less space for the polar bear to live. Oil spills can be very dangerous. A bear with oil on its coat cannot regulate its body temperature properly. If the bear eats the oil while grooming it could die. Man made pollution is also a cause of death. At each stage of the food chain, pollutants get more concentrated. By the end when the polar bear eats the seal and it could be lethal.

http://www.kidzone.ws/sg/polarbear/polar_bear.htm

== == == == http://archive.greenpeace.org/climate/arctic99/reports/bearfact.html
 * The worldwide population in the circumpolar arctic: 10-20,000
 * The Alaska population: 3,000 to 5,000
 * Adult males grow to a weight of 550 to 1,700 lbs and measure 8 to 10 feet from nose to tail. Adult females weigh 200 to 700 lbs, measure 6 - 8 feet.
 * Bears are helpless at birth and weigh 1.3 lbs avg. Cubs stay with mother for about 2.5 years Polar bears reproductive rate is one of the slowest of any mammal
 * March to May is breeding season. Females have first litter at 5 or 6 years of age.
 * Summer: bears drift with the shifting ice pack and follow ice edge from nearshore to 125 miles offshore
 * Autumn - bears move south with advancing ice pack Pregnant bears enter dens in late October or November
 * Cubs are born in late December or early January Family groups remain in dens until late March or early April
 * Same snow dens are used repeatedly (not so much in the Beaufort as other areas) BUT females sometimes even return to the dens they were born in.
 * In the Beaufort Sea, 53 % of the dens are on pack ice, 47 % on land. The highest concentration of land dens is on the coast of the Wildlife Refuge Unstable ice conditions can lead to the abandoning of dens
 * Bears denning on land have more cubs than those denning on ice Therefore, disturbance of land dens a major concern for population health
 * Main food source: ringed seals (almost exclusively) Secondary food sources: bearded seals, beluga whale, walrus, other marine mammals, bird, vegetation and kelp.
 * An adult bear usually eats one seal every six or seven days
 * Human caused deaths: bears have died from: eating a car battery, eating dye used to mark an airstrip near Prudhoe, toxic effects of ingesting oil after trying to lick fur clean, being shot when approaching oil rigs -- ie: during a 5 year study in Canada, 4 bears were shot to death 33 bears were killed over a 10 year period at oil and military installations in the Northwest Territories, a bear was shot in 1990 in Camden Bay while approaching a rig.
 * Go get BP: In 1985, Fish and Wildlife noted that seismic support traffic along the Arctic Refuge coast near Camden Bay caused a female bear to abandon her den.


 * Polar bear information**

The polar bear is a very attractive animal. Polar bears belong to the class mammals. The white brown color of their fur gives them this look. The thick fur on their body protects them from cold. They are very powerful animals and can weigh upto 800 kg. They differ from their other species by having neck longer than them. The head is smaller in appearance.

They have the habit of keeping their head while moving through water. They have strong smell sense and can identify the flesh miles away. They are not easy to detect since their white color matches with snow and ice around. The fur is divided into two layers. The first layer covers its soul and provides necessary heat while the outer one protects hairs.

Generally males are bigger in size than females. Male polar bears are larger than females. Since they have to move on glass like sliding surfaces they have different structure of their feet compared to those bears which live on tropical parts. They have hairs on the soles. These help to catch good grip on ice surface and also act as heat insulator. The web type structure provided on the toes assist them in paddling in the water. These species move to different places in search of food. The polar bears don’t retain their area for long time. If we observe some bears at specific place and see their location after a week they will around hundred miles away from their prior location.

Polar bears live in extreme cold weather conditions. They are found around the North Pole. They also have their habitat in Tundra, Greenland and towards north side of North America, Europe and Asia.
 * Polar Bears Habitat - where do polar bears live**

These animals are good hunters of sea creatures under water. They enjoy having the flesh of seals, fish and seabirds. They are self centered animals and generally move alone. They have powerful jaws and can tear the body of seals and fish with there teeth’s.
 * Polar Bears Food - what do polar bears eat**

They have very good swimming ability and can swim many miles without any halt.

They generally swim at 5 to 7 miles per hour. They can go upto a depth of 16 to 17 feet.

The respiratory body organs are very powerful which enable them to stay beneath water for about two minutes. They also survive by eating plants around. At times they eat wolves and reindeers.

The number of bears born to female bear is generally four to five. They do the mating in mid-summer every year. The females as usual take the responsibility of their young ones. The female makes holes in solid parts of the snowy area. The reproduction period extends up to nine months. The cubs are protected by their mother until they become able to survive by themselves.
 * Mating**

The process of extracting oil from the Arctic Ocean have proved to be first to cause threat to the wildlife. The human and machine interruption has always caused proved to be the cause of species getting extinct. Hence proper care must be taken and pollution and leaving out toxic chemicals in these oceans must be stopped. They are being hunt for their fur and to make different byproducts. Although the hunting is against the law they are no bodies or organization involving with active role to watch for their safety.
 * Conservation facts - why are polar bears endangered**

Proper steps must be taken and these animals should be protected from getting extinct.

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-10-2004-62758.asp