Polar bears are the world’s largest land predators. They can be found in 6 countries, and as you have probably guessed, these are all countries that have very cold climates. The coldest of these being the Arctic, a region that spans across most of the 6 countries including: Russia, Greenland and Alaska in the United States. The coldest average temperature of the Arctic is - 40 degrees centigrade, a temperature from which the Polar bear’s thick coat protects it. The Polar bear is able to insulate itself from the cold even more because of the blackness of its skin, which attracts the heat and the whiteness of its coat, which then traps the heat. This means that the polar bear is able to keep itself warm throughout all seasons and weather conditions.
Polar bears mainly eat seals and hunt for them by waiting for the seals to come to the surface to breathe through holes in the ice. This method of hunting, known as seal stalking, takes a great deal of patience as the bears have to wait for hours and sometimes days to even have a chance at catching a seal. Polar bears are opportunistic hunters, meaning that they will eat any food that comes along to help them survive in their fierce environment. Their other food sources include birds, bird eggs and any other mammals that they come across. In 2008, polar bears were listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, due to global warming and the loss of their natural environment. There are an estimated 20,000 – 25,000 bears in the wild, with this number dwindling every day. Polar Bears may look very majestic, but they are also strong and dangerous and more importantly, in danger of extinction.
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