Polar Bear

The Polar Bear belongs to the family Ursidae, for carnivorous bears. Polar Bears live in the Arctic Circle and are the largest land carnivore! As the top predator in the Arctic, the male Polar bears can weigh up to 1,300 lbs. and the female weigh up to 650 lbs. (one in Canada was weighed at 1,700 lbs.)! They surpass the height check! When on all fours, they can stand between 3.5 ft.-5 ft., but when they stand on their back legs they can be as tall as 10 ft.! Polar bears have 2 layers of fur and a thick layer of skin to protect them from those frigid temperatures. Though you may think their fur is white, their fur is transparent. Each hair shaft is pigment free with a hollow core that light can pass through. The thick layer of fat is the adaptation they rely on most to stay warm. For this reason, female Polar bears will avoid swimming with their young in those colder times because they do not have as much fat. As cute and cuddly as they look, Polar bears are not the nicest. Those big paws you see are extremely powerful! With a length of up to 12 in. across, they have sharp curved claws that are about 2 in. long! With all that weight and a huge paw like that, I would hate to cross paths with them.

Unfortunately, our Polar Bears are considered endangered, and it is our fault. With all the commercial boating through the arctic waters, pollution and climate warming is causing them to lose sea ice and now exposing diseases that are killing them. We made the mess now let’s clean it up! You can visit polarbearsinternational.org for more information.

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