Description of the polar bear from the red. Habitat of the polar bear

The polar bear is the largest species of the bear family (Ursidae). In its homeland, in the Arctic, it is, without a doubt, the "king of beasts", which has practically no natural enemies. But what do we know about polar bears, besides the fact that they live in northern latitudes? This article will tell you in detail about the life and behavior of polar predators and help you understand what they really are, the rulers of the Far North?

Polar bears live in the ice of the circumpolar Arctic. There are about 20 populations that almost do not mix with each other and vary greatly in size - from 200 to several thousand individuals. The number of the entire world population is approximately 22-27 thousand animals.

The permanent residence of polar bears are coastal ice continents and islands, where the number of their main prey - the ringed seal - is quite high. Some individuals live among the less productive perennial ice in the central Arctic region. From the south, their distribution is limited by the southern boundary of the seasonal ice cover in the Bering and Barents Seas and in the Labrador Strait. In areas where the ice completely melts in the summer (Hudson Bay and southeast Baffin Island), animals spend several months on the coast, depleting their fat reserves until the water freezes.

Description and photo of the polar bear

The polar bear is the largest member of the bear family. As independent species it was first described in 1774 by K. Phipps, having received the Latin name Ursus maritimus, which means "sea bear" in translation.

Polar bears evolved from brown bears during the late Pleistocene period, the oldest find dating back 100 thousand years was discovered in the Royal Botanic Gardens in London.

The body length of males is 2-2.5 m, females - 1.8-2 m; the mass of males is 400-600 kg (especially well-fed individuals can weigh a ton), females - 200-350 kg.

In the photo, a polar bear jumps from an ice floe. Despite the massive body, these animals are surprisingly mobile. If necessary, they can swim for several hours, and on land they can cover up to 20 km in a day, although sometimes this leads to overheating.

Features of the structure are associated with living conditions in a harsh climate. The body of the polar predator is stocky; they do not have the raised withers characteristic of brown bears. Compared to other species, the polar bear's head is narrower and longer, with a flat forehead and long neck. The ears of the beast are small, rounded.

Thanks to thick wool and a thick layer of fat, polar predators feel quite comfortable at a temperature of -50°C. By nature, their wool white color; it serves as an ideal disguise for the beast. However, often the fur takes on a yellowish tint due to pollution and fat oxidation, especially in summer. Interestingly, with a white coat color, the animal's skin is dark. This feature serves as a natural accumulator of solar energy for animals, which, as is known, is in great deficit in their habitats.

The large, paddle-like front paws are excellent for swimming, and there are swimming membranes between the toes. Hind legs when swimming play the role of a steering wheel. Wide feet increase the footprint when walking on snow.

An interesting fact: despite the fact that outwardly polar and brown bears are very different, they are close relatives and in captivity can interbreed. A hybrid of such a cross is called grolar or pizzly.

Lifestyle of polar bears

Polar bears lead a predominantly solitary lifestyle; They stay in pairs only during the rutting season. Cases of their accumulation, sometimes up to several dozen individuals, in places where there is enough a large number of food are quite rare. Groups of polar predators are quite tolerant of each other's company while feeding on large prey, such as a dead whale. However, ritual battles or games are not uncommon, but each beast does not forget about its hierarchical status.

Animals lead a predominantly nomadic lifestyle, with the exception of time spent in dens. Dens are primarily used by females to give birth and feed their young. It is also a refuge for winter sleep, but animals hibernate for a short time and not every year.

How are lairs arranged?

The dens of breeding females can be divided into generic and temporary. In tribal she-bears bring offspring. The time of their stay in such dens is on average 6 months. The temporary lair serves breeding females for a short time - from 1 day to 2-3 weeks, and in isolated cases up to 1 month or more.

The birth lair consists of one or more chambers. The length of the chamber is on average from 100 to 500 cm, width - from 70 to 400 cm, height - from 30 to 190 cm, the length of the corridor varies from 15 to 820 cm. The inlet is often poorly visible from a distance of several meters.

Temporary dens differ from generic ones in terms of arrangement. Usually they are of a rather simple structure: with one chamber and a short (up to 1.5-2 m) corridor, as a rule, with completely “fresh” walls and a vault, and a slightly iced floor.

Depressions, pits and trenches without a vault and a distinct entrance are sometimes referred to as temporary lairs, but it would be more correct to call them shelters. Such shelters usually serve polar bears for a short time - from several hours to several days. They provide the animal with minimal comfort, such as shelter during bad weather.

In conditions of particularly severe weather (blizzard, frost), bears, in order to save energy, can lie down in temporary shelters for several weeks. The northern predator has one interesting physiological feature: while other bears can only hibernate in winter, our hero can hibernate at any time.

What does the lord of the north eat?

The ringed seal (ringed seal) in the diet of polar bears is food No. 1, to a lesser extent, the bearded seal becomes their prey (the beast catches it when it floats up to breathe). Animals hunt for seals, waiting for them near the “vents”, as well as at their breeding grounds on ice floes, where inexperienced cubs become easy prey for predators. The bear quietly sneaks up to the victim, then makes a sharp throw and plunges into the water. To expand small "vents", the beast breaks the ice with its front paws, using its impressive mass. Having immersed the front part of the body in the water, it grabs the victim with powerful jaws and pulls it out onto the ice. Bears can find the location of a seal's hole through a meter-long layer of densely packed snow; they go to her from a kilometer away, guided solely by smell. Their sense of smell is one of the most acute among all mammals. They also hunt walruses, beluga whales, narwhals, and waterfowl.

For the nutrition of hungry polar predators, sea emissions are essential: the corpses of dead animals, the waste of fishing for sea animals. A large number of bears usually accumulate near the carcass of a whale thrown ashore (photo).

The polar bear, being a typical carnivore, however, being hungry and not being able to hunt for its main prey - seals, can easily switch to other foods, including plant foods (berries, seaweed, herbaceous plants, mosses and lichens, branches of shrubs). This, apparently, should be regarded as an evolutionary adaptation of the species to harsh environmental conditions.

In one sitting, the beast is able to eat a very large amount of food, and then, if there is no prey, starve for a long time.

IN modern conditions an increase in the anthropogenic impact on ecosystems can lead to a deterioration in the food supply of the polar bear, forcing it to increasingly switch to secondary food, visit landfills in settlements, devastate warehouses, etc.

Eternal nomads

Constantly changing ice conditions force polar bears to regularly change their habitats, looking for areas where seals are more numerous and among the ice fields there are open or covered with young ice leads, channels and cracks that make it easier for them to prey. Such areas are very often confined to the shore ice zone, and it is no coincidence that many animals concentrate here in winter. But from time to time, the shore ice zone is completely closed due to pressure winds, and then the bears again have to migrate to other areas in search of more favorable hunting grounds. Stable, and then only for the period of winter and early spring, remain still ice, but they are not everywhere suitable for the existence of seals, and consequently, polar bears.

In search of more suitable places for hunting, animals sometimes travel hundreds of kilometers. Therefore, their habitat varies significantly even during one season, not to mention inter-seasonal and annual differences. In the absence of polar bear territorialism, individuals or family groups for some time master a relatively small area. But, as soon as the conditions begin to change dramatically, the animals leave such areas and migrate to other areas.

procreation

The mating season falls on April-May. Between males at this time there is a rather tense struggle for females.

Females are induced ovulators (they must mate many times over several days before ovulation and fertilization occur), and therefore pairs remain together for 1-2 weeks to successfully reproduce. In addition, polar bears are characterized by a delay in implantation until mid-September-October, depending on the latitude at which the animals live. After 2-3 months, cubs are born in most areas. It happens in a snowy lair. Babies are born weighing about 600 grams. At birth, their hair is so thin that it seems as if they are naked. Until the age of 7-8 months, the mother's milk is the basis of the nutrition of the cubs. This milk is very fat - 28-30%, but it seems to be separated in small quantities.

Sometimes the female bear leaves the den that has become "unfavorable" when the cubs are still weak. They move with difficulty and require constant care. If such a family is disturbed at this time, then the female, saving the cubs, carries them away in her teeth.

When the cubs reach a mass of 10-12 kg, they begin to accompany their mother everywhere. They freely follow her up the steep slopes, often playing games during their walks. Sometimes the games end in a fight, while the cubs roar loudly.

Some she-bears who went for a walk do a kind of gymnastics in the snow. They clean themselves against the snow, rub their muzzles against it, lie down on their stomachs and crawl, pushing off with their hind legs, slide down the slope in various positions: on the back, side or stomach. For adult bears, these are apparently hygienic procedures aimed at keeping the fur clean. In cubs that imitate their mother, this behavior also has a playful coloration.

The she-bear's training of the younger generation probably lasts as long as the family group persists. Imitation of the mother is already manifested when the babies are in the den, for example, burrowing activities. They also sometimes imitate her when eating plants.

Finally leaving the lair, the family goes to the sea. On the way, the female often stops to feed the cubs, sometimes she feeds herself, digging plants out from under the snow. If the weather is windy, she lies with her back to the wind; in deep enough snow, it digs a small hole or temporary lair. Then the families go into the ice. In the first half of May, females and cubs are sometimes still seen on land, but probably from among those who, for some reason, left their lair belatedly.

Females can breed once every 3 years, since the cubs stay with her for up to 2.5 years. For the first time, females become mothers, usually at the age of 4-5 years, and then give birth every 3 years until death. Most often, 2 bear cubs are born. The largest broods and the largest cubs are found in females aged 8-10 years. Young and old she-bears often have 1 cub each. There is evidence that adult females in natural conditions can change cubs or adopt cubs who have lost their mother for some reason.

The life expectancy of female polar bears is 25-30 years, males - up to 20 years.

Diseases, enemies and competitors

Among polar bears, such a dangerous intestinal-muscular invasive disease as trichinosis is widespread. Other diseases are very rare.

More often, they suffer from various injuries, including those inflicted in a fight with each other for possession of a female or food. But they do not have serious consequences for the population.

A polar bear can only compete with a person who hunts seals for skin, fur and meat, breaking the natural balance that has developed between predator and prey.

The wolf and arctic fox have a slight impact on the population, attacking and killing cubs.

Polar bears and man

Thanks to measures to protect polar predators, the risk of their extinction is low. Previously, they were considered a vulnerable species, but after the introduction of the 1973 Agreement on the Conservation of the Polar Bear, the population has stabilized.

Provided that the hunting of northern bears is controlled, they are not threatened with destruction. However, there are fears that their numbers may decline due to the low rate of reproduction. They are shot mainly by the local population, whose representatives kill about 700 individuals per year. But the main danger for our heroes is climate warming and environmental pollution.

In the Arctic regions, due to population growth, the likelihood of a collision between a polar predator and a person has potentially increased. As a result, a conflict situation is created that is dangerous for both parties. Polar bears, however, cannot be considered aggressive towards humans, but there are exceptions. Most animals retreat when they meet a person, others do not pay attention to him. But there are those who pursue a person, especially if he runs away. Most likely, at this moment the instinct of persecution works in the beast. Therefore, to say that the polar bear is a completely harmless animal would be a dangerous delusion. The real threat is emaciated individuals. First of all, these are old animals that have lost the ability to successfully hunt for their usual food, as well as young ones that have not yet mastered hunting techniques to the proper extent. Females protecting their cubs also pose a considerable danger. The polar bear can also show aggression when it encounters a person unexpectedly or if it is being chased.

In contact with

Polar bears are very beautiful and have their own peculiar elegance and grace. However, as you know, it is not easy to meet them, if only in zoos. The fact is that these predators live in the most remote territories of the Arctic and live alone.

On this moment polar bears are one of the most protected animals, since for some time they were especially popular among poachers and were killed by tens or even hundreds. In addition, it should be noted that polar bears are unique indicators that help monitor the state of our land.

Polar bears: general characteristics

According to the latest research, then brown bears were the ancestor of white predators. These animals are very ancient and were born six million years ago. Unlike their ancestors, they feel great in the water and are excellent swimmers.

These animals are among the largest predators on earth. The habitat of polar bears is the Arctic. High adaptability to low temperatures and the ability to do without food for a long time allow them to survive in such harsh conditions. As mentioned earlier, polar bears live alone, unlike other types of bears.

Their peculiarity lies in the presence of the most sensitive sense of smell and hearing, which allows them to hunt seals, which are the main element of the diet of these predators.

polar bears divided into two dozen subpopulations, whose names depend on the habitat of predators.

How much do polar bears weigh? The weight of males varies from three hundred to six hundred kilograms. Females weigh much less - from one hundred and fifty to three hundred kilograms. They live long. In the natural habitat from eighteen to twenty-five years, however, individuals were also registered, whose age reached three decades. In captivity, the longest The life span of a bear was forty-two years.

Where does the polar bear live?

Polar bears are found throughout the Arctic. They live in those places where it is most convenient for them to hunt, breed, and where there is an opportunity to build lairs in which they feel protected, can warm up and raise their cubs. Large quantity individuals are observed in areas where populations of ringed seals are observed.

These animals feel equally comfortable both on land and under the surface of ice. They can swim more than one hundred and fifty kilometers from the earth. At present the largest number bears, about forty percent, are located in northern Canada.

The survival rate of polar bears is quite high: their reserves of fat and fur keep animals warm even in very severe frosts, about minus forty degrees. Interestingly, the fur of polar bears has a two-layer structure, which also helps them endure frost well. The ears and tail are just the right size to keep warm. Little Known Facts is that animals have more trouble with overheating, especially during strenuous activities like running. Another advantage is their incredibly tenacious, long and thick claws, which help animals to hold prey in their paws, the weight of which can exceed ninety kilograms.

Nutrition

The diet of this predator is as follows:

The bear only eats prey meat when it is very hungry. They usually eat only the skin and fat of their prey. Thanks to such a nutrition system, a huge amount of vitamin A accumulates in the liver of an animal. An animal can eat about eight kilograms at a time, and if it is very hungry, then up to twenty.

The remains of the bear prey do not disappear, because it goes to feed the foxes. If it was not possible to grab large prey, then the bears are content with various kinds of carrion, fish, they can destroy bird nests and do not disdain eating chicks. Sometimes for a particularly large meal, for example, if some individual was lucky enough to find an already dead whale, several predators gather. Some think as if penguins are included in the polar bear's diet, but in fact, penguins do not live in the area where polar bears live.

IN summer time During the year, the ice usually retreats or melts altogether. This situation threatens predators with deprivation of places where they can feed. Thus, polar bears are forced to go on starvation, which can take up to four months. This is the only time when many individuals spend time together, calmly lying on the shore, because there is no need to compete for food.

Bears rarely consider a person as prey, although this also happens. In reality, these animals are not particularly aggressive, and the danger can only come from females with offspring or injured animals.

Principle of hunting

In most cases predators waiting for the head of their potential prey to emerge from the hole. After the animal emerges, the bear lying in wait for it stuns its victim with one blow of its huge paw, not giving it the opportunity to come to its senses, and then pulls it out onto the ice.

There is another way to hunt. Its essence is to turn over the ice floe on which the victim rests. Most often these are young and not yet strong walruses. It will not be easy for a bear to cope with strong individuals in the water. Sometimes the predator finds holes in the ice through which the seals breathe. Then he begins to expand it with blows of powerful paws, and then dips half of his body under the ice, grabs prey with sharp teeth and pulls it to the surface.

reproduction

Polar bears are not aggressive and males in rare cases may fight during the mating season or attack cubs.

Polar bears reach puberty by six to eight years of their lives. Females mature faster than males. The mating season is from March to June. At this time, animals gather in groups, and the female may be surrounded by five or more males. The pregnancy continues for eight months.

In autumn, towards the middle, females begin to prepare shelter for themselves and their future offspring. Interestingly, they choose a place for a den according to a certain principle, and their choice most often falls on the Wrangel Islands and Franz Josef Land, where up to two hundred dens can be located at the same time. After the cover is ready, the female goes into hibernation, which lasts until April and falls on the period of embryo development. Births take place towards the end of the Arctic winter.

The offspring of a bear usually consists of two cubs, which are born completely helpless and very tiny. Their weight does not exceed eight hundred grams. In very rare cases, a mother bear can give birth to four cubs. In the first month of their life, offspring feed exclusively on mother's milk. In the second month, the eyes open, then, after another month, their short sorties from the den begin, and only by the age of three months the family leaves the shelter forever and begins its long journey through the snowy expanses. Throughout the journey, which lasts a year and a half, the mother protects her children and feeds them with milk, and after that they become independent and leave her.

The problem is that in her entire life, the female brings a little more than a dozen cubs, based on the fact that she gives birth to offspring every three years. Therefore, the population these animals grow very slowly. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the mortality rate of babies is from ten to thirty percent.

Interesting facts

Polar bear, aka polar or northern bear (lat. Ursus maritimus) is a predatory mammal that belongs to the canine suborder, the bear family, the bear genus. The name of the beast is translated from Latin as “sea bear”, and the predator is also called oshkuy, nanuk or umka.

International scientific name: Ursus maritimus(Phipps, 1774).

conservation status: vulnerable view.

Polar bear - description, structure, characteristics

The polar bear is the largest land predator and one of the largest predators on the planet, which is second only to sea ​​elephant. The largest polar bear weighed just over 1 ton and was about 3 meters long. The height of this bear standing on hind legs, was 3.39 m. On average, the body length of males is about 2-2.5 m, the height at the withers is from 1.3 to 1.5 m, and the average weight of a polar bear varies between 400-800 kg. Bears are 1.5-2 times smaller, usually their weight does not exceed 200-300 kg, although pregnant females can weigh up to 500 kg. Interestingly, in the Pleistocene era (about 100 thousand years ago), a giant polar bear lived on earth, its size was about 4 meters in length, and its body weight reached 1.2 tons.

The polar bear has a heavy, massive body and large, powerful paws. Unlike other representatives of the genus, the neck of polar bears is elongated, and the head with small ears has a flattened shape, but with an elongated facial region characteristic of all bears.

The jaws of the beast are extremely powerful, with well-developed, sharp fangs and incisors. In total, a polar bear has 42 teeth. Facial vibrissae are absent in animals.

The tail of a polar bear is very short, has a length of 7 to 13 cm and is almost invisible from under thick fur. The paws of the polar bear end in five fingers, armed with sharp non-retractable claws of impressive size, which allows predators to hold the largest and strongest prey.

The soles of the paws are covered with coarse wool, which prevents slipping on ice floes and does not allow the paws to freeze. In addition, polar bears are great swimmers and divers, and there is a swimming membrane between their fingers, which helps with long swims.

The fur of the polar bear is rather coarse, dense and extremely dense, with a well-developed undercoat. Such a rich fur coat and an impressive layer of subcutaneous fat up to 10 cm thick make animals practically invulnerable even in the most severe frosts and when they are in ice water. Only the paw pads and the tip of the muzzle are not protected by fur.

Polar bears are powerful and hardy predators, very agile and fast for their weight and impressive size. On land, the speed of a polar bear averages 5.6 km / h, and when running it reaches 40 km / h. During the day, the animal can cover a distance of up to 20 km. A polar bear pursued in water is capable of accelerating up to 6.5-7 km/h, and if necessary it can swim without stopping for several days. A fact is known when a female polar bear swam non-stop to the feeding place for 9 days, although during this time she lost up to 22% of her body weight and her cub.

Polar predators have well-developed hearing, sight and smell. The animal senses the prey at a distance of more than 1 kilometer, and standing over the shelter of potential prey, it is able to catch the slightest movement. Through a meter layer of snow, a polar bear can smell the place of the seal's air (holes in the ice, with the help of which the seal breathes).

Polar bear lifespan

Under natural conditions, polar bears live for about 20-30 years (males up to 20 years, females up to 25-30 years), and the recorded life expectancy record in captivity is 45 years.

Where do polar bears live?

Polar bears live in polar regions northern hemisphere, and their range extends to 88 degrees north latitude in the north and to the island of Newfoundland in the south. The distribution area on the mainland passes through arctic deserts to the tundra zone in the territories of Russia, Greenland, the USA and Canada. The range of animals is closely related to the Arctic belt, covered with drifting and multi-year ice, abounding in large polynyas with a high density of marine mammals, the main source of food for polar bears.

Today, the habitat of polar bears has several large populations:

• Laptev, common in the Laptev Sea, the eastern regions of the Kara Sea, in the west of the East Siberian Sea, on the New Siberian Islands and the archipelago New Earth;
• the Kara-Barents Sea, whose representatives live in the Barents Sea, the western regions of the Kara Sea, in the eastern part of the Greenland Sea off the coast of Greenland, as well as on the islands of Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land and Svalbard;
• the Chukchi-Alaska population is distributed in the Chukchi Sea, in the northern part of the Bering Sea, in the east of the East Siberian Sea, as well as on the Wrangel and Herald Islands.

In the north, the distribution area of ​​\u200b\u200bpopulations captures part of the Arctic basin, although polar bears are much less common here than in more south seas. Interestingly, the largest polar bears live in the Barents Sea, while the smallest ones live on the island of Svalbard.

The existence of predators is tied to seasonal changes in borders polar ice. With the onset of heat, polar bears retreat to the pole along with ice, and in winter they return south, and although their usual environment is coastal areas covered with ice, predators often visit the mainland at this time.

Hibernation of the polar bear

First of all, pregnant females hibernate, the rest of the polar bears winter in the den not every year and at the same time fall into suspended animation for no more than 50-80 days.

What does a polar bear eat?

The main food source of the polar bear is various marine mammals and fish (seal, ringed seal, less often bearded seal (sea hare), walrus, white whale, narwhal).

First of all, the polar bear eats the skin and fat of the killed victim, and only when very hungry does it eat the meat of its prey. Thanks to this diet, a huge amount of vitamin A enters the animal's body, which accumulates in the liver. At one time, an adult polar bear eats about 6-8 kg of food, and when very hungry - up to 20 kg. The remnants of the meal are eaten up by arctic foxes, eternal guides and freeloaders of the polar bear. In case of an unsuccessful hunt, animals are content with dead fish, carrion, ruin bird nests, eating eggs and chicks. Polar bears are quite tolerant of their relatives when eating large prey, such as a dead whale, which may gather around large group predators. Wandering to the mainland, polar bears willingly dig in garbage dumps in search of food waste and rob food warehouses of polar expeditions. The plant diet of predators consists of grasses and algae.

By the way, polar bears do not eat penguins, since penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere (in Antarctica, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America, on the islands), while polar bears live in the Northern Hemisphere (in northern Russia, Canada, Alaska, Greenland and some islands).

In summer, the ice recedes from the shores and can completely melt, which deprives the animals of their feeding places. Therefore, in summer, polar bears live off their fat reserves and starve for 4 months or more. Given the lack of competition for food during this period of the year, animals can gather in groups and lie peacefully on the shore.

A unique feature of the polar bear's behavior is its attitude towards humans, whom it sometimes purposefully hunts down and treats as prey. But most often, polar bears do not show aggression at all, they are quite trusting and curious. Usually, only females with cubs or a wounded animal are dangerous to humans.

How does a polar bear hunt?

The polar bear lies in wait for potential prey near the polynya, and as soon as the head of the victim is shown above the water, it stuns the animal with a powerful blow of the paw, after which it pulls the carcass onto the ice.

Other no less effective method hunting consists in turning over the ice floe on which the seals rest. Often, polar bears hunt walruses, especially young and weak ones, but they can only cope with an enemy armed with deadly tusks on ice. The bear sneaks up to prey at a distance of about 9-12 meters, and then attacks the victim with a sharp jump.

When a polar bear discovers seal vents (holes in the ice through which seals breathe), it tries to expand them by breaking the ice with its front paws. Then he plunges the front of the body into the water, grabs the seal with his sharp teeth and pulls it onto the ice, after which the victim can no longer cope with an unequal opponent.

Polar bear breeding

Northern bears lead a solitary lifestyle and treat their relatives quite peacefully, fights between males occur only during the breeding season, at the same time aggressive males can attack cubs.

Polar bears reach reproductive age by 4-8 years, and females become ready to reproduce offspring earlier than males. The bear rut is extended in time and lasts from late March to early June, and the female is usually accompanied by 3-4, sometimes up to 7 males. The pregnancy of polar bears lasts from 230 to 250 days (about 8 months), and it begins with a latent stage, when the implantation of the embryo is delayed.

In October, female polar bears begin to dig dens in snow drifts, and they choose certain places for this: for example, on the Wrangel Islands and Franz Josef Land, where up to 150-200 dens are set up in the coastal zone at the same time. In the middle of November, when embryonic development fruit, bears go into hibernation, which lasts until April. Thus, offspring are born in the middle or at the end of the Arctic winter.

Taken from: polarbearscience.files.wordpress.com

From 1 to 3 cubs are usually born (usually 2 cubs), completely helpless and tiny, weighing from 450 to 750 g. In completely exceptional cases, 4 cubs can be born. The fur of cubs is so thin that they are often called naked. At first, the offspring intensively feeds on mother's milk. A month later, the cubs' eyes open, after another month, the little polar bears begin short sorties from the lair, and at the age of 3 months they already leave the den and, together with their mother, set off to wander through the icy expanses of the Arctic. Up to a year and a half, the cubs continue to feed on milk and are under the protection of their mother, and after that they begin an independent life. Mortality among polar bear cubs ranges from 10 to 30%.

The mother bear brings offspring once every 3 years and during the life cycle produces no more than 15 cubs, which indicates that the potential for increasing the population of these animals is too low.

conservation status

Polar bears are listed in the Red Book of Russia as a vulnerable species, and since 1956 hunting for predators in the country has been completely prohibited. In 2013, about 5-6 thousand polar bears lived in the Russian polar ice. Other countries have established restrictions on the harvest of these animals, regulated by an annual quota.

Enemies of the polar bear in nature

Due to their gigantic size, polar bears do not have many enemies in their natural habitat. In the water, a walrus or a killer whale can attack an animal, on land, small bear cubs, left unattended by a not too vigilant or gaping mother, sometimes become victims of wolves, foxes and dogs. The main threat to the polar bear is a man with a gun: unfortunately, even conservation status does not always save this giant of the Arctic from armed poachers.

Differences between white and brown bear

According to paleontologists, the bear genus appeared on earth about 5-6 million years ago, and the polar bear is considered the youngest species that separated from the common ancestor of all bears about 600 thousand years ago. Modern polar and brown bears are genetically similar, and when crossed, they form viable offspring, called polar grizzlies, which are also capable of reproduction.

Taken from: www.spiegel.de

Polar and brown bears occupy completely different ecological niches, have distinctive phenotypic features, nutritional characteristics and social behavior, due to which they are classified as certain types. Below are the differences between white and brown bears.

• the largest polar bear reached a length of 3 meters, while the length of a brown bear does not exceed 2.5 meters;
• the weight of a polar bear can reach one ton, the brown relative weighs no more than 750 kg;
• among brown bears, there are many subspecies that live in different territories. Unlike the brown bear, the white bear has no subspecies.
• the neck of the polar bear is long, while that of the brown counterpart is thick and short;
• the head of the polar bear is not very large and flattened, while that of the brown bear is more massive and rounded;
• polar bears are inhabitants of the harsh and snowy expanses of the Arctic zone, their southern boundary of habitat is the tundra zone. Brown bears, unlike polar bears, live in a warmer climate in Russia, Canada, the USA, in Europe, from Western Asia to northern China and Korea, as well as in Japan (see habitat maps below). The northern border of their range is the southern border of the tundra;

• the polar bear differs from the brown one in the food it consumes. If polar bears are carnivorous predators, then the menu of the brown bear consists not only of meat and fish: most of the diet includes berries, nuts, insects and their larvae;
• in polar bears, only pregnant females mainly hibernate, and their winter sleep lasts no more than 50-80 days. The winter sleep of a brown bear, both in females and in males, can last from 75 to 195 days - it all depends on the habitat of the animal;
• the polar bear's rut ​​lasts from March to early June, for the brown bear it lasts from May to July;
• polar bears usually give birth to 2, less often 3 cubs. Browns can have both 2-3 and occasionally 4-5 cubs.

On the left is a polar bear, on the right Brown bear. Photo credits: PeterW1950, CC0 Public Domain (left) and Rigelus, CC BY-SA 4.0 (right)

• Since ancient times indigenous people Severa hunts the polar bear for skin and meat, and reveres this strong and ferocious beast as the embodiment of formidable natural forces. According to the legends of the Eskimos, the confrontation between a man and a polar bear becomes a kind of initiation and the formation of a man as a hunter.
• Polar bears in search of food are able to swim gigantic distances: the record for the duration of the swim belongs to a bear who swam across the Beaufort Sea from Alaska to multi-year ice. During the 685 km swim, she lost a fifth of her weight and her one-year-old bear cub.
• The largest male polar bear was shot in Alaska in 1960, the weight of the predator was 1002 kg.
• Living in conditions of extremely low temperatures, the polar bear is an extremely warm-blooded animal: its body temperature is about 31 degrees, so predators rarely run to avoid overheating.
• The image of a polar bear is actively used in cinema, for example, as characters in the popular cartoons Elka, Bernard and Umka.
• These animals are depicted on the logo of the confectionery production "Sever" and on the wrappers of sweets "Bear in the North" created by the Krupskaya confectionery factory.
• February 27 is the officially recognized day of the Polar Bear, which is celebrated by fans of these animals all over the world.

In the Arctic, where the northern lights sparkle in the sky and where the night continues for three months, and the polar day lasts half a year, the lord of the North, the polar bear, lives in the white silent desert.

This inhabitant of the Arctic has no natural natural enemies - only walruses can compete with them. And the bears take this into account by avoiding encounters with them.

Polar bear and walruses.

What does a polar bear look like

Clumsiness, clumsy and clumsy gait - only the first superficial impression made by white bears. In fact, polar bears are hardy and agile animals, capable of overcoming a height of two meters in one jump, making a daily march of sixty kilometers and not freezing, swimming in icy water.

Due to the deposits of subcutaneous fat and thick luxurious fur, polar bears feel very good in polar cold conditions. And their fur covers even the soles of their paws. It is hollow inside, very dense and thick. The snow-white color of the fur of the animal allows it to be almost invisible against the backdrop of polar ice and snow. Only the eyes and black nose indicate the location of the lurking white bear. During the polar day due to long-acting sunlight, the animal's fur can acquire a golden yellow hue.

The body length of a polar bear reaches three meters, and the height at the withers is up to one and a half. The weight of an adult male, as a rule, is eight hundred kilograms, but can reach a ton. Females are much smaller: their weight does not exceed three hundred kilograms. The population of the largest polar bears is distributed on the shores of the Bering Sea, and the smallest - in Svalbard.

Archipelago Franz Josef Land, Fr. Land of Alexandra, July.

Where does the polar bear live

Polar bears live on the Russian coast of the Arctic Ocean, in Greenland, Canada, Alaska and northern Norway. Their life all year round passes on landfast and drifting ice. On land, if animals stay, then for a short time. The exception is pregnant female bears, who lie in dens to give birth to babies. In the winter-spring period, bears gather at the boundaries of stationary polynyas and behind the fast ice zone, and in the summer-autumn season, at their southern tip.

White bears.

Polar bear and tourists.

Two polar bear cubs grabbed the mother, who decided to swim across to the neighboring island. Forces are running out for the whole trinity.

What does a polar bear eat

Polar bears are predators and the main type of their food is of animal origin. They prey on such inhabitants northern seas like seal, sea hare, seal. The bear is hunting different ways. It can lurk near the polynya and wait for the appearance of prey, for several hours get close to the chosen victim and overtake it with a swift throw. Sometimes a bear dives under an ice floe with seals, tilts it and stifles the animal next to it.

The polar bear almost never eats its prey completely, limiting itself to eating fat, throwing the rest of the carcass. In search of food, these inhabitants of the polar region migrate all the time. Often for such trips, animals use ice floes drifting off the coast. It happens that bears - "travelers" are carried far from their permanent habitat: to the coast of islands or the mainland coast. There, the bears involuntarily become vegetarians, eating lichens, berries, and cereals. Back to their native places, they make their way overland.

Polar bear at polar night.

White bears.

At the Hannover Zoo, polar bears are saved from the heat with frozen desserts made from yogurt and fruit.

A polar bear in the pool of the Roev Ruchey Zoo in Krasnoyarsk.

An inhabitant of the Moscow Zoo is a bear named Milana.

Felix the polar bear at the Roev Ruchey Zoo in Krasnoyarsk.

Polar bear underwater in the zoo.

About reproduction

Mating time for polar bears is from March to July. With the beginning of autumn, pregnant bears equip snow dens. Besides them, other bears do not hibernate. In February or March, cubs are born, of which, as a rule, there are two. They are born completely helpless and blind. And only two months later, when the babies begin to see clearly and acquire the ability to follow their mother, the family leaves the den and leads a wandering lifestyle. The cubs spend the first year and a half of their lives under their mother's care.

Polar bears reach sexual maturity in the fourth year of life, and childbearing occurs every two years.

The one and a half year old bear cub will soon go to adulthood.

About the status of the population

The current estimated number of polar bears of all populations is thirty thousand individuals.

Polar bear in the Novosibirsk Zoo.

The polar bear (Russia) is the largest representative of its large family. Moreover, it is the largest predatory mammal in the world. The growth of a polar bear (male) can reach 3 meters. Its weight sometimes exceeds a ton.

Giant polar bear

This huge animal lived on our planet more than 100 thousand years ago. The view is now lost. Its size can be judged by the ulna found in the UK. His height exceeded 4 meters, and this giant polar bear weighed about 1200 kg. Most likely, he was something between a brown beast and the northern one that we can see today.

Description of the polar bear

Pictures of this dangerous predator Many have known each other since childhood. They are frequent guests on the pages of books for kids. Even the wrapper of sweets beloved by many is decorated with a portrait of this giant. The giant polar bear has black skin, like its brown counterpart. But the color of the skin can vary from white to light yellow. The wool of this giant has salient feature: her hairs are hollow inside.

Sometimes the description of a polar bear gives the wrong impression about this animal. The bear is represented as a clumsy and clumsy bumpkin. But this is fundamentally wrong. Despite their more than impressive dimensions, polar bears in the Arctic run fast enough, and besides, they are excellent swimmers.

In passes more than 30 km. His paws are unique. This beast does not care about deep snow. The size of his feet and pillar-like legs allow him to overcome ice and snow obstacles very quickly and quite dexterously. The resistance of these animals to cold is striking. Not only hollow hairs protect the bear from the cold. This is facilitated by a thick layer (up to 10 cm) of subcutaneous fat.

Therefore, white bears are big fans of taking an ice bath. Absolutely painless predator overcomes up to 80 km in icy water. It is not uncommon for a giant polar bear to sail to the mainland on an ice floe in summer. In this case, he is euthanized and sent back by helicopter.

The polar bear is the closest relative of the brown inhabitant of our forests. The bear, which lives in the north, has a streamlined body - it is ideally adapted to life in the water. He has a small head, powerful and long legs, feet with hairy soles, allowing him to feel quite comfortable on ice or snow. The nose, nails and eyes are black. On the paws between the fingers there are swimming membranes. No other bear can boast of this.

As already mentioned, the giant polar bear does not have a very large head (in relation to the body). It is narrow and somewhat flat. The muzzle is pointed in front. The nostrils are always wide open and the ears are rounded. There are no eyelashes on the eyelids. The tail is small, barely noticeable.

In the North, polar bears feel quite comfortable. In the Arctic, they are reliably protected by thick white fur. It contributes to the preservation heat balance body. Young cubs differ from their parents not only in size, but also in their coat. Their coat is very beautiful, with a silvery tint, while in older animals it is yellowish. Its color does not depend on the season.

Nutrition

The main food of the northern predator is seals. For a year, an adult eats up to 50 of these animals. It's not an easy job to catch a seal, but the giant polar bear has mastered it to perfection. He can spend hours guarding his prey at the hole, waiting for a seal to appear in it. As soon as the unfortunate animal comes up to take a breath of air, the bear instantly beats it with its paw and throws it onto the ice. During the meal, first of all, the predator eats fat and skin. He usually leaves everything else, although if he is very hungry, which often happens in winter, he eats the whole carcass.

It is interesting to observe how easily the bear moves from one ice floe to another, deftly jumping over the crevices. He is in search of a seal. If the hunt does not go well, he will not give up seals or fish. In very rare cases, a bear can attack a white whale, arctic fox, walrus or birds. As soon as he has noticed his future prey, he begins to follow it from behind an ice or snow shelter. If the animal feels something is wrong and becomes alert, the predator freezes for a while, literally pressing into the snow.

seal hunting

It's funny that at the same time he closes his nose and eyes, which can give him away. Left unnoticed, a huge predator crawls very close to its prey and even then makes a decisive throw. Sometimes he has to dive, then to appear in front of an unsuspecting seal, which is conveniently located on an ice floe. Paradise time comes for our hero with the advent of spring. Marine animals have babies. Inexperienced and still very weak, they do not resist the white giant, often do not even try to run away from him.

reproduction

The offspring of a polar bear occurs once every three years. Pregnant female bears leave the sea ice in November. They need to find a secluded place for a lair where they can raise their offspring. While the bear is feeding the baby, she practically does not leave the den and during this time she loses half her weight.

The first "publication" occurs at the age of 3 months. The cubs follow the she-bear, who immediately begins teaching them about survival, hunting, and other skills they will need during their adulthood. Meanwhile, the mother never forgets about the protection of the cubs and their nutrition.

Population and protection

The high mortality of young animals and the low birth rate made this animal easily vulnerable. True, in last years the population is considered stable and even weakly growing.

There are about 7,000 polar bears in our country today. At the same time, we must not forget that every year poachers shoot up to 200 individuals. Due to the fact that the population of Dixon has decreased, the extermination of the white predator has slightly decreased.

Human danger

From the reports and notes of polar explorers, there are known cases of polar bear attacks on humans. For example, members of the expedition of Willem Barents, a Dutch navigator and explorer, when the group spent the night on Novaya Zemlya (1597), people were forced to repeatedly fight off polar bears using muskets.

Once in places where a meeting with a polar bear is possible, care must be taken. When it comes to populated villages, it is necessary to ensure that there are as few landfills as possible in these territories, where the animal can easily find food waste.

You need to know that polar bears do not have facial expressions, so its attack cannot be predicted. In the Canadian province of Manitoba, there is a special "prison" where polar bears approaching the city are temporarily detained. I must say that Greenpeace activists are sounding the alarm about the threat of extinction of these animals.

More recently, a procession of animal advocates was held in the capital of Great Britain, led by a giant polar bear. True, it was mechanical. Its weight was three tons. They made it for several months, and it took 35 puppeteers to revive the bear.