About Polar Bears
Latin Name: Ursus Maritimus
Average Weight Female: 200-300 kg
Average Weight Male: 400-600 kg
Male: Boar
Female: Sow
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ursus
Species: U. maritimus
Polar Bears are the largest land carnivores among all animals still existing today, they can grow up to 2.6 metres long and the average shoulder height of a fully grown Polar Bear is 122-160 cm.
Polar Bears live on land and they cannot breathe under water, yet they spend most of their life at sea. They are excellent swimmers and they have thick coats to keep themselves warm in the icy water of the Arctic, where they live.
Polar Bears are fantastic predators, they have strong jaws and long, sharp teeth. They have huge paws which they use to crash a hole into the ice when they smell food beneath it.
Polar Bears mainly eat seals, their favourites are ringed seals, but they eat almost anything, including walrus, fish, seabirds, crabs, bird eggs, starfish, grass, mushrooms and they often scavenge off dead animals too!
Polar Bears have an amazing sense of smell, they can smell food from up to 20 miles away!
Polar Bears mate in the months of Spring and the females eat as much as possible to build up fat, because in the Autumn they dig a den and will stay there until they give birth - this normally occurs in December or January. Polar Bear cubs are tiny, weighing only 1-11/2 pounds and are blind. The mother and cubs leave the den around March and April and then the cubs stay with their mum learning to hunt and survive until they are 11/2 - 21/2 years old.
The fur of a Polar Bear appears white, but in fact it is clear. The sun reflects off the hairs and makes them look white. Sometimes the coat stains and appears yellow, it is also common that when in captivity Polar Bears grow algae in their hair and their coat is tinged green.
Each of a Polar Bear's hairs is hollow.
Although Polar Bears are incredible hunters, they are classed as vulnerable because their habitat is melting and it is edging these amazing animals closer to extinction.