Polar bears are considered adults when they are old enough to mate. For females, this is ages , for males By the time they reach adulthood, adult males normally weigh kg , lb. Adult females usually weigh kg lb , though some can be larger. In the wild, polar bears live an average of 15 to 18 years, although biologists have tagged a few bears in their early 30s. Join us in our efforts to encourage leaders to make a swift transition away from fossil fuels and to renewable energy sources, by spreading awareness about the real and pressing threat of climate warming.
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Never before observed, biologists attributed the drowning to a combination of retreating ice and rougher seas. As a result of rapid ice melt in , a female polar bear reportedly swam for nine days nonstop across the Beaufort Sea before reaching an ice floe, costing her 22 percent of her weight and her cub. As climate change melts sea ice, the U. Geological Survey projects that two thirds of polar bears will disappear by Food scarcity is increasing: As sea ice disappears for longer and longer periods during the late summer, polar bears are left with insufficient time to hunt.
Polar bears can only survive in areas where the oceans freeze, allowing them to hunt seals living under, on, or in the frozen polar ice cap. The reduction in ice platforms near productive areas for the fish eaten by seals is affecting the seals' nutritional status and reproduction rates. Polar bears are going hungry for longer periods of time, resulting in cannibalistic behavior. Although it has long been known polar bears will kill for dominance or kill cubs so they can breed with the female, outright predation for food was previously unobserved by biologists.
Additionally, development is increasing in ocean floor exploration and offshore oil extraction in the open waters that were previously sealed by frozen ice. This brings people, disturbance, and potentially ruinous oil spills to the previously pristine Arctic polar bear habitat. Polar bears need our help and protection to ensure a long, healthy future for the species. The best way for people to help polar bears is by reducing carbon emissions and working with the National Wildlife Federation to campaign for reductions in climate change pollutants.
Because they spend so much time in the ocean, polar bears are classified as marine mammals. Polar bears evolved from brown bears to survive in extreme northern environments. Polar bears are the largest terrestrial predator on the planet, with large males standing more than 11 feet 3. When necessary or playing, polar bears communicate with each other with grunts, growls, roars, or squeals.
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Inspire a lifelong connection with wildlife and wild places through our children's publications, products, and activities. In 4 seconds , you will be redirected to nwfactionfund. The National Wildlife Federation. Polar Bear. Polar Bear Ursus maritimus Status: Threatened. Classification: Mammal. Description Polar bears are the largest carnivorous land mammals on Earth. Diet Unlike other bear species, polar bears are almost exclusively meat eaters carnivorous.
Behavior Polar bears tend to live solitary lives except when mating, when a female raising her cubs forms a family group, or when many bears are attracted to a food source like a beached whale. Life History Polar bears breed in the late spring as the temperatures begin to rise in the Arctic.
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This evolutionary adaptation increases the likelihood that at least one cub will survive to adulthood, especially given the harsh and unforgiving conditions found in their Arctic habitat. Polar bears are dependent on sea ice to catch seals, as they are most efficient as ambush hunters. They catch seals by waiting for them to surface at their breathing holes in the ice, stalking them sunbathing on the sea ice, and by breaking into the birthing chambers of ringed seals.
There are 19 subpopulations of polar bears in the world, which are based on geographic sea-ice regions. Thirteen of these subpopulations, which makes up about 60 per cent of the global polar bear population, can be found in Canada. When the summer rolls around and sea ice retreats, polar bears head towards land to live out the ice free season. During this time, they can go for long periods without eating, surviving mostly off of the fat stores they accumulated over the winter by eating seal blubber.
However, the longest fasts among polar bears are seen by females, who can go four to eight months without eating; from the time they enter their den to give birth, to the time they emerge from the den and arrive at the ice edge the following spring.
The word Nanuq, which is Inuktitut for polar bear, means an animal worthy of great respect, or the ever wandering one.
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