Polar Bear Affair

Archive for the ‘The Polar Bear’ Category

The polar bear is the world’s largest carnivore and is a native of the arctic and its adjacent land masses. Their main characteristics are that they can survive on extreme cold climates only and this is the reason why they are seen only in the Polar Regions. Polar bear population has been spread across countries like Canada, Russia, Denmark (Greenland), Alaska etc.  Canada is the major habitat of these polar bears as almost 70% of their populations are found there.

Polar bear is a carnivorous animal. They belong to the bear family and mostly depend upon seals for their food. Arctic, the habitat of these polar bears does have millions of seals. It means that there is no shortage of food for these polar bears. These arctic ices are the hunting ground for the polar bears. Seals do swim in thick ice and come out of the holes in the ices to breath air. Polar bear would wait near these holes and as soon as their prey puts their head out, would catch them at a whisk. Polar bears hunt for their prey in ice. They very rarely would hunt seals in land or in open water.

The most common hunting method of polar bears is known as still hunting. The seals do come out of the holes in the ice to get some good breath. The polar bears do make use of this opportunity. These animals have excellent powers for smell and can easily find out the breathing holes of a seal. They would identify these pores and wait outside them in silence till the prey comes out of the hole. When a seal puts its head out of these pores, the polar bear would drag it out of these holes using its forepaw and then crushes its head to kill them.

The mature polar bears used to eat only the calorie rich skin of the seal. But younger polar bears do consume more of the rich protein red meat. Subadult bears are those who have not grown that much to start hunting. They usually depend on the prey of other bears and are their major source of nutrition. These subadult bears may not have that body size to start hunting. They may sometimes get only the remains of a seal which have been eaten up by other big polar bears. A subadult polar bear would get only half eaten seals even when they start hunting as they do not have the size to defend their food from other big polar bears. After taking in food, polar bears do wash themselves with water or ice.

The polar bears are active hunter’s year around except the pregnant females. Unlike other bears in the family, a polar bear can fast for several months without taking in any food. At the times of summer, the polar bears cannot hunt any seal as there would not be any ice. How do these polar bears live then? They have huge fat reserves in their body which would help in sustaining their life for a much longer time.

Polar bear facts-How do they actually live?

Polar bears look very affable. Polar bears have been made quite popular by media. In fact, we see bears drinking colas in TV advertisements.

Unfortunately, there are only 22 to twenty seven thousand polar bears now left in the world out of which 15,000 live in arctic Canada. But, due to global warming there won’t be many left till 2060. After that they will be only seen in zoos, according to reports of World Wide Fund for nature. Well, even arctic wilderness will be a thing of the past, if global warming continues to exist at the same pace. Global warming has been a crime created by human beings. It has led to melting of arctic ice making sure that bears lose their natural habitat.

These bears are also not able to live the same lifestyle as before due to global warming. In fact, they also don’t get much time for hunting seals, their favorite food, this is because arctic springs arrive later and summers have extended in duration. The ice on the arctic shelf has also become shallower. Its width has reduced from 4.8 meters to only 2.7 meters. The size of these bears has also decreased due to pollutants. Now the bears are smaller in size and weight. This has been observed by Canadian scientists. Inspite of their numbers being affected by pollutants, polar bears are still one of the favorite preys for hunters. In Canadian arctic there are quotes for hunters. So, almost 500 bears get killed every year. These polar bears exist in 5 different places called Canada, Russia, Alaska, Norway and Denmark. Arctic spring has become delayed by three weeks now due to which bears are not left with an ample hunting time. Ice could also diaper completely from the largest European breeding ground for bears which is Spitsbergen located near Norway

Norway offers complete protection to bears since 1973 where their numbers have increased by 100% to reach 2000 recently. But, this area has higher pollution levels than Canadian arctic, which causes concern for the health of the bears. The color of the fur of a polar bear is not white. It looks white because the hair shaft of every bear is without any pigment with an empty core. This hollow core reflects light quite similar to snow which explains the white fur.
The polar bears generally like to stay lonely. It has a huge weight of 770 to 1500 pounds. The females only weigh 330 to 550 pounds. It is also half in size as compared to a male. It is the largest animal in the bear world outweighing other bears by 400 pounds. It is double the size of the much feared Siberian tiger. It also has an elongated nose and skull in comparison to a brown bear. Polar bear is the most meat eating bear in the family of bears with a diet consisting of bearded and ringed seals. A polar bear kills a skull by biting its head with its teeth and then breaking the head of the prey.

The polar bear is a member of the bear family. It is a carnivorous animal and lives in extreme cold climates. These animals are mostly found in the arctics as the climate of this region is found mostly suitable for their life. More than half of the polar bear population is in Canada.

We know that polar bears do live in arctic. Scientists say that the adaptation of these animals to the climate of the arctic region is a nature’s marvel. The ice found in the arctic and its surrounding regions are much thicker than any were in the world. These regions do have extreme cold climates and it is still a mystery for scientists on how polar bears have adapted themselves to these climates.

Many studies have been done in the past to study how polar bears adapt to the climate of the poles. At last scientists came to the conclusion that this adaptation started from the times of ice age itself. It is only in the later evolutionary stage that bears have started to adapt with the polar climate. Scientists claim that this adaptation should have started at least 100,000 years ago. There is a good population of seals in these arctic regions. They do come out of the pores in the ice to breath air. The bears would have found these seals as year round food source and so should have started moving to these areas. The brown bears that have slowly moved into these areas would have changed into the polar bears of today.

The polar bears do have body characteristics to withstand the extreme climate of the Polar Regions. It weighs 30 to 1760 pounds. The male polar bear do weigh much more than a female. They grow to the height of 6.6 to 10 feet and these huge bodies of the polar bears are their main advantage in hunting food. They can easily get over their prey using such a large body. The skin is the main factor which helps polar bear to withstand these climates. They do have large amount of fats which makes their body warmer and is also the major source of food supply during the winter. The polar bears do have enormous power of smell which helps them to hunt for their prey very easily.

Polar bears are now in the stage of extinction. They are largely affected with global warming. These animals do require extreme cold climates to survive upon and so cannot withstand this rise in the earth’s temperature. Global warming has also lead to the melting of ices in the arctic which is the habitat of these species. Polar bears do drown in the rougher seas which are the result of melting ice and also face shortage of food. These animals depend on seals for food. As a result of global warming, theses seals are also facing danger of extinction. What it means is that there is a shortage in their foods which leads to early death of a polar bear.

What is global warming? It is the rise in earth’s temperature due to the increasing amount of harmful pollutants in the atmosphere. Global warming has led to many problems for mankind. It has increased the earth’s temperature; changes in the climate cycle, melting of arctic ice, extinction of many species etc. Polar bears are one of those species which are facing the threat of extinction due to global warming. According to recent studies, if the global warming continues for some more years, then the extinction of these polar bears would happen very soon. In fact what global warming does is, by actually melting those ices in the arctic, the habitat of these polar bears are destroyed and thus leading them to extinction.

Polar bears are found mostly in the Polar Regions. These species are part of a very balanced ecosystem. They live in extreme cold climates and so are mostly found in the Arctic. The impact of global warming on these polar bears is very large. They are sure not to live more if the global warming continues at the present rate. According to a recent study conducted by the US Geological Survey, the population of polar bears would reduce by at least two third if the global warming continues to increase like this.

How is global warming causing harm to polar bears? These animals require extreme cold climate to survive. The arctic’s have this climate which is now damaged by global warming. Due to the increase in temperatures, the ice in the arctics is slowly melting down thus destroying the habitats of polar bears. Another significant damage that is caused to polar bears is that they are loosing their hunting grounds. This thick packed ice has been the hunting ground for polar bears. Seals are their biggest preys. Due to the melting of ice, polar bears are finding it very hard to hunt their prey.

Studies have found out that polar bears are now not living for more than three years. They are actually facing shortage of foods as their habitats have been destroyed and thus their hunting grounds. Many polar bears are starving to death because of the absence of a reliable food source. The ices are melting very quickly and thus in a direct way causing impact on the lives of the polar bears as well. If the projections of NASA are to be believed, then all these thick packed ices in the arctic would melt by the year 2012. They have also found that many of these polar bears are actually drowning due to the melting of ice which has lead to rougher seas.

What is the effect of these rougher seas? As a result of this, polar bears are finding it hard to hunt their prey. Seals can’t be easily accessed as the ices are melting very fast. Global warming has lead to the reduction of the number of seals which means less food for polar bears. It’s time that we act against global warming, or very soon we will see these species extinct from our earth.

The life and habitat of this Arctic animal lies very much in the North Pole, which is its native region. As the arctic region is surrounded by the Arctic Ocean, the polar bear spends most of its live in and around water though they are born on land. Along with the Kodiak bear, this polar bear is the largest of its species. Known world-wide for its man-eating trait, it is the meanest and nastiest carnivore till date.

Polar bears are strongly related to the brown bears. However, they have evolved to inhibit only a small area of niche. There are adaptations made by the polar bears to go through the daily life. The body of a polar bear has to survive the freezing and erratic climate conditions and also make journeys through the thick snow in order to hunt and obtain its basic necessities.

Life of a polar bear is not very easy as it has to evade its hunters. Hunting of these polar bears is very prominent and also licensed as it is the only source of meat, other than fishing. However, fishing is not possible during winter seasons when the water is frozen. With the extensive hunting of this mammal, the population has drastically reduced. It is certified to be a vulnerable species. The fur is sold for commercial purposes. Eight out of the 19 sub-divisions of the polar bear population is now declining. The population number of polar bears is gradually recovering with preventive measures taken. Read the rest of this entry »

Planet Earth has been suffering from an unpredictable threat called global warming from past 50 years. This has resulted in the change in the temperature patterns. The Artic region especially is melting due to the rise in temperature and this has forced the polar bear to survive in the melting habitat. Polar bears are animals which are native only to the Artic region. This arctic mammal is the largest of the bear species and a man-eater. It is known to be the meanest carnivore.

The polar bears have white fur on their body which is used as camouflage in the surrounding snow and also to protect it from the erratic cold weather. Female adult bears would be 400-500 pounds in weight and 6ft in height. Male adult bears could be 1000 pounds in weigh and would be 8ft to 11ft in length. Polar Bears are huge by nature and have long bodies. Their sense of smell is acute and can smell prey from 10 miles away. This aids them in hunting and predicting danger. Ringed seals are what they feast upon regularly. Female polar bears would normally give birth to twin cubs in the months of late November and early December. The cubs would be nourished by its mother up to 2 years of age. Polar bears can live up to 33years of age in the wild natural habitat or more when under captivation. This marine mammal is just 20000 to 25000 in number across the world. Read the rest of this entry »