Hobbies And Interests
Appearance
Polar bears have clear, hollow fur, which appears white. Their nose pad, eyes and lips are black. They have partially webbed feet and sharp claws. Male polar bears grow 8 to 9 feet long and weigh 800 to 1,400 lbs., while female polar bears grow up to 6 feet long and weigh 440 to 650 lbs. Polar bears' large bodies and thick layers of fat help them conserve body heat. Their fat also helps them float in water.
Habitat and Diet
Polar bears live in Alaska, Russia, Canada, Greenland and the Svalbard Islands. They live on areas where ice meets open water, where they can hunt seals, their most important prey. Polar bears have a keen sense of smell and can detect seals 20 miles away, according to the San Diego Zoo. Polar bears also sometimes eat walrus, beluga whales, smaller animals and vegetation, such as seaweed. Some polar bears live on land after ice and snow melt after the winter.
Reproduction
Female polar bears breed after reaching age 4 or 5. Males mature after 6 years but often have to compete with other males for mates. Polar bears breed from March to June; cubs are born in November to January. Females breed every two or three years and stay with their cubs for two years or longer. Polar bears typically live up to 25 years in the wild, although polar bears have lived up to 41 years in zoos.
Threats
Global warming, the slow increase in temperatures caused by the burning of fossil fuels, causes the sea ice where polar bears live to melt earlier in the year and re-form later. According to the World Wildlife Fund, global warming could eliminate two-thirds of the world's polar bears by 2050. Searching and drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic also causes habitat problems for polar bears. Finally, polar bears suffer from eating seals that contain the toxic chemicals found in water pollutants.