The polar bear is listed in the red category. Animals of the Red Book of Russia - polar bear

(Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774)

The largest representative of the bear family (Ursidae Gray, 1825).

Oshkuy, Umki, Yavvy, Uryung-ege, Nanuk, Sir Vark - all these are the names of the polar bear in languages different nations, inhabiting the Russian Arctic.

Main external difference The polar bear differs from other bears in having white fur. In fact, the hairs of a polar bear are colorless, and each hair has a spiral-shaped cavity filled with air, which helps the animal retain heat very well. In many bears, over time, six acquires a yellowish tint.

Adult females grow up to 2 m in length and 200–250 kg in weight. Males are much larger. On average they reach 2.5 m in length and 350–600 kg in weight.

The cubs are born about 30 cm tall and weighing about 500 g.

Bear cubs (1–3, but more often 2) are born in the middle of winter in a den that a pregnant bear makes in late autumn. In March, the family leaves the den. The female takes care of the cubs for the first two years, during which they no longer go to the den.

In the third year of life (in spring), the cubs leave their mother and begin an independent life. The lifespan of a polar bear in nature is up to 40 years.

The life of a polar bear is closely connected with sea ice, its main habitat. On it, bears hunt their main prey - ringed seals and bearded seals.

At the end of autumn, on the mainland coast and on the Arctic islands, pregnant females set up “natal” dens in which they give birth to offspring. The rest of the polar bears do not lie in dens.

The polar bear is a slow breeding species. A female can bring no more than 8–12 cubs in her entire life. The mortality rate among bear cubs in their first year of life is very high. The IUCN polar bear team estimates that there are 19 subpopulations of the species worldwide, with a total population of 20,000–25,000 individuals.

Status

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List status: Vulnerable A3c, which means a population decline of 30% over 3 generations (45 years).

The polar bear is subject to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Species wild fauna and endangered flora), where it is listed in the second appendix. It includes species that are given time are not necessarily endangered, but may become so if trade in specimens of these species is not strictly regulated to prevent use that is incompatible with their survival.

Status of the polar bear in Russia (according to the Red Book of the Russian Federation):

Polar bear hunting in the Russian Arctic has been prohibited since 1957.

Federal Law of July 2, 2013 No. 150-FZ “On Amendments to Certain legislative acts Russian Federation» a new article 2581 was introduced into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, providing criminal liability for illegal extraction, maintenance, acquisition, storage, transportation, shipment and sale of especially valuable wild animals and aquatic biological resources belonging to species listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and (or) protected international treaties Russian Federation, their parts and derivatives. The list of fauna includes mammals, birds and fish listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation or subject to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which the Russian Federation is a party. The polar bear is one of the species included in this list, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 31, 2013 No. 978.

On the initiative of the Ministry natural resources and ecology of the Russian Federation and with the support of the World Wildlife Fund ( WWF Russia) in 2008, work began on the preparation of a Strategy for the Conservation of Polar Bears in the Russian Federation and an Action Plan. Leading polar bear experts in Russia took part in the work on the Strategy and Action Plan. The strategy was approved by order of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources dated July 5, 2010 No. 26-r. The goal of the national Strategy is to determine mechanisms for the conservation of polar bear populations in the Russian Arctic in the context of increasing anthropogenic impact on marine and coastal ecosystems and climate change in the Arctic. The strategy is official document, which determines state policy for the conservation of the species. The main task in implementing the Strategy will be the preservation of polar bear populations in the Russian Arctic in the face of the ongoing impact of anthropogenic factors and climate warming.

International agreement about polar bear conservation

An exceptionally important role in preserving the global population of polar bears was played by the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, which was signed in 1973 by representatives of five Arctic countries - Canada, Norway, the USA, the USSR and Denmark. In the preparation and subsequent implementation of this agreement active participation hosted by the Polar Bear Specialist Group, established in 1968 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Russian-American Polar Bear Agreement

In addition to the Great International Agreement, there are agreements between individual Arctic countries on the management of their common polar bear populations. Russia has such an agreement with the United States, signed on October 16, 2000. It is called the “Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the United States of America on the Conservation and Use of the Chukchi-Alaskan Polar Bear Population” and entered into force on September 27, 2007. The main purpose of the Agreement – preservation of the Chukotka-Alaska polar bear population in the long term. Special attention Both countries should pay attention to areas where bears den and concentrations of bears during foraging and migration. To do this, they take measures to prevent the loss or destruction of polar bear habitats, which could lead to the death of the animals and a decline in the population.

Modern threats to the polar bear

1. Reduction of sea ice area in the Arctic.

Polar bears prefer to be on sea ice. In summer, when the ice begins to retreat north, most of the population remains on it, but some animals spend the season on the shore.

Global climate change is leading to a reduction in sea ice in the Arctic, a key habitat for the polar bear. As a result:

pregnant female bears spending the summer on sea ice may have problems accessing the coast and islands to lie down in their maternity dens. This leads to the loss of the embryo or the female bear lies in a den in unfavorable conditions, which also reduces the likelihood of offspring survival.
more bears are forced to spend time on the coast, as a result of which they often experience problems with obtaining food, and there is also an increase in conflict interactions with humans.

2. Negative anthropogenic factors.

Illegal mining. A complete ban on the hunting of polar bears has been introduced in the Russian Arctic since January 1, 1957. Illegal hunting has always occurred, but the number of bears harvested is very difficult to estimate. Presumably, currently throughout the Russian Arctic it amounts to several hundred animals annually.
Worry factor. It is especially critical for pregnant females and female bears with cubs in their first year of life in areas where maternity dens are constructed.
Anthropogenic pollution. Located at the top of the trophic pyramid in Arctic marine ecosystems, polar bear Accumulates in the body almost all pollutants that enter the ocean (persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons).

Compiled by: Boltunov Andrey Nikolaevich

Expert on marine mammals and polar bears in the scientific body CITES of Russia. Member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) international specialist group on polar bears, Deputy Chairman of the Regional public organization"Marine Mammal Council". Expert of the Russian-American scientific working group on the Chukotka-Alaskan polar bear population, leading researcher at the All-Russian Research Institute of Nature

We have already looked at it in detail and were surprised. Let's now take a closer look at the familiar Polar Bear in more detail.

Polar bear- the biggest bear, he is the most large mammals order of predators in the world. The body length of an adult male can be up to 3 meters, and the weight can reach a ton. The largest representatives of the polar bear were spotted along the shores of the Intracoastal Sea.

The polar bear is listed in the IUCN Red Book and the Russian Red Book. Bear hunting is allowed only to the indigenous population of the North.

The skin of a polar bear is black, just like a brown bear. But the color of the skin is from white to yellowish. Also, the polar bear’s fur has a peculiarity: the hairs inside are hollow.

The bear seems clumsy due to its size and dimensions, but this is only an appearance. Polar bears can run quite fast and swim well too. The North bear travels 30 km per day. The bear's paw is unique. No deep snow can stop the bear, thanks to its size of the foot and column-shaped legs, even compared to other polar animals it very quickly and deftly overcomes any snow and ice obstacles. The resistance to cold is simply amazing. In addition to hollow hairs, the polar bear also has a subcutaneous layer of fat, which in winter can be up to 10 cm thick. Therefore, a polar bear can easily travel up to 80 km in ice water. In the summer, a bear can even swim to the mainland on an ice floe, then it is euthanized and sent back by helicopter.

In Russia, polar bears are found on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, in Greece and Norway, Canada and Alaska.

The main food of the polar bear is seals. One bear eats about 50 seals per year. However, catching a seal is not easy. A polar bear can watch its prey near a hole for hours, waiting for a seal to appear on the surface. After the seal surfaces to take a breath of air, the bear instantly hits the prey with its paw and throws it onto the ice. The predator eats the skin and fat, preferring to leave the rest, although in winter, in case of hunger, the bear eats the entire carcass. The bear is often accompanied arctic foxes, who get the remains of the seal. Polar bears also do not disdain carrion; the bear can smell the scent of prey from several kilometers away. For example, beached whale will definitely become a meeting place for several bears. 2 bears or 3 bears may not share the food, then a skirmish occurs. It is unknown how many bears may be encountered. This is why a bear can enter the territory of human habitation. More often, of course, this is simple curiosity, although evil hunger can drive the beast into a hopeless situation. Although a bear can be a vegetarian, they like cereals, lichens, sedges, berries and mosses.

Spring is a heavenly time for bears. Baby sea animals are born, which, due to inexperience and weakness, do not provide adequate resistance and often do not even run away.

The polar bear has incomparable resistance to cold. Its thick, long fur consists of hairs that are hollow in the middle and contain air. Many mammals have similar protective hollow hairs - an effective means of insulation - but those of the bear have their own characteristics. Polar bear fur retains heat so well that it cannot be detected by aerial infrared photography. Excellent thermal insulation is also provided by the subcutaneous layer of fat, which reaches 10 cm in thickness with the onset of winter. Without it, the bears would hardly be able to swim 80 km in icy Arctic water.

By the way, polar bears are the only large predators on Earth that still live in their original territory, in natural conditions. This is largely due to the fact that seals, their favorite and main food, live on drifting ice in the Arctic. For every bear there are approximately 50 seals per year. However, hunting seals is not easy. Ice conditions change from year to year, and seal behavior is unpredictable. Bears have to travel thousands of kilometers in search of best places for hunting.

In addition, the hunt itself requires skill and patience. The bear watches the seal at the hole for hours, waiting for it to come up for air. He immediately strikes with his paw at the head that appears from the water. sea beast and immediately throws it onto the ice. First of all, the predator devours the skin and fat, and the rest of the carcass only in case of great hunger. A bear hunting a seal is usually accompanied by one or more arctic foxes, eager to take advantage of the remains of the killed animals. Polar bears themselves do not disdain carrion, thus compensating for the lack of seal fat and meat. The owners of the ice kingdom can smell carrion several kilometers away. And if suddenly a whale gets into shallow water, dries out and dies, it will immediately come running from all sides the whole company white bears who are always hungry.

Hunting seals is no easier. Shy seals, at the slightest danger, dive under the ice and emerge in another hole to breathe. And the bear rinses its face in icy water in vain. But in the spring, a fertile time comes for the bear - cubs of sea animals are born, which have never seen a polar bear before and therefore do not realize the danger. But even here the clumsy bear has to show miracles of ingenuity. In order not to scare away the cubs, the bear has to be very careful, because even the slightest crunch can give away its presence and deprive it of food.

Difficulties in obtaining food are aggravated by climate changes on Earth. As a result of climate warming, the ice in the bays begins to melt earlier than usual, summers become longer every year, winters become milder, and the problems of polar bears become more acute. Summer, in general, is a difficult time for polar bears. There is very little ice left and it is almost impossible to get close to the seals. Over the past 20 years, the polar bear hunting season has been shortened by two to three weeks. As a result, the weight of the animals decreased: if previously a male weighed about 1000 kg, now, on average, 100 kilograms less. The females also lost weight. This, in turn, has an extremely negative effect on population reproduction. Increasingly, females are giving birth to only one cub...

However, polar bears are not only suffering from warming temperatures and a shortened hunting season. In the recent past, the polar bear was an important commercial target. Fur and bear paws, which are the most important component of popular and expensive oriental soups, pushed members of polar expeditions to ruthlessly exterminate this beautiful beast. The profits from such business are so great that the international black market continues to flourish, despite all attempts to stop it. The fight in this area has reached the same intensity as the fight against drug smuggling.

In July, many of the polar bears that traveled with drifting ice move to the coasts of continents and islands. On land they become vegetarians. They feast on cereals, sedges, lichens, mosses and berries. When there are a lot of berries, the bear does not eat any other food for weeks, gorging on them to the point that his face and butt turn blue with blueberries. However, the longer the bears starve, forced to prematurely move to land from the melting ice as a result of warming, the more often they go in search of food to people who have been actively exploring the Arctic in recent decades.

The question of whether an encounter with a polar bear is dangerous for a person is difficult to answer unequivocally. Sometimes bears attacked people out of curiosity, quickly realizing that they were easy prey. But most often, tragic incidents occur at campsites, where bears are attracted by the smell of food. Usually the bear goes straight to the smell, crushing everything in its path. The situation is complicated by the fact that the animal, in search of food, tears into pieces and tastes everything it comes across, including people who turn up by chance.

It should be noted that bears, unlike wolves, tigers and others dangerous predators, there is practically no facial muscles. They never warn of impending aggression. By the way, circus trainers claim that because of this feature, it is most dangerous to work with bears - it is almost impossible to predict what to expect from them in the next moment.

Now, thanks to the efforts of Greenpeace, they try not to kill bears that wander into the city in search of food, resorting to temporarily tranquilizing shots from a special gun. The sleeping animal is weighed, measured and recorded. A colored tattoo is applied to the inside of the lip - a number that remains for the entire bear life. Females, in addition, receive a collar with a miniature radio beacon as a gift from zoologists. The euthanized bears are then transported by helicopter back to the ice so that they can continue a full life in natural environment habitat. Moreover, females with cubs are transported first.

The world for a polar bear is limited by ice fields, and this primarily determines the characteristics of its behavior. Judging by animals kept in captivity, this bear, compared to the brown one, seems less intelligent and not so dexterous; he is less trainable, more dangerous and excitable, and therefore can be seen relatively rarely in the circus arena. True, he is characterized by a certain “straightforwardness” in his actions, due to a rather monotonous lifestyle, narrow food specialization, and the absence of enemies and competitors. But it is enough to observe this animal in its natural environment even for a short time to be convinced of high level his psyche, exceptional ability to assess conditions natural environment, including the quality of ice, adapt to them and, depending on them, flexibly change hunting tactics, find the easiest and most passable paths among piles of hummocks, confidently move through young, fragile ice fields or areas of ice replete with cracks and leads.

The strength of this beast is amazing. He is capable of dragging and lifting up a slope a walrus carcass weighing over half a ton, with one blow of his paw he can kill a large sea hare that has almost the same mass as his, and, if necessary, he can easily carry it in his teeth for a considerable distance (a kilometer or more).

Polar bears are eternal nomads. Ice transports them over vast distances. It often happens that even such experienced “travelers” suffer disaster. Thus, animals caught in the zone of the cold East Greenland Current are carried on drifting ice along the southeast of Greenland, and in the Davis Strait the ice melts, and most polar bears, despite all their dexterity, die.

It would seem that living in the deserted polar spaces, the polar bear should not suffer from humans. However, this is not true. The Arctic is already quite settled. Sailors, hunters, and people of other professions now constantly meet with polar bears, and these “contacts” do not always end favorably for the huge, but very curious and generally harmless animals.

And the biology of the beast itself has “weak” sides. During the mating season, the male has to travel enormous distances to find a female, and often endure a battle with a rival. Often searches are not crowned with success at all and no family is formed. Mother bears bear offspring (one or two cubs) every two years and become sexually mature only at the age of about four years.

The presence of food (seals and fish), suitable places for breeding and the absence of human disturbance are the main conditions for the existence of polar bears in the Arctic. But strangely enough, there are not so many places like this at first glance. The unique “maternity hospital” of these animals is Wrangel Island. In addition, polar bears make dens on the northeastern islands of Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land, northeast and northwest Greenland, southwest Hudson Bay and some Arctic islands of Canada. The main territory of the Arctic is essentially unsuitable for habitation, much less breeding, of this species.

All pregnant female polar bears spend the winter in snowy shelters, which are relatively identical in design and located, with rare exceptions, on land; Everywhere in the Arctic they go into dens and leave them at almost the same times. The physiological state of animals in dens is similar to that of brown bears, i.e. it is shallow sleep or torpor with a slight decrease in body temperature, respiratory rate and pulse, but not hibernation (as, for example, in marmots, gophers, etc.) . Apparently, at the beginning of winter, female bears lying in dens are more active than in the middle of winter, although in the spring in most dens one can see traces of the digging activity of females of varying ages.

The question of the winter activity of males, spawning females and young individuals is not clear enough. Obviously, in a significant part of their range, especially in the south of the Arctic, they are active all year round, with the exception of periods of severe snowstorm, from which the animals take refuge among hummocks or coastal rocks; finding here before. the layer of snow is quite deep, they even dig shallow shelters in it. With the end of the blizzard, bears leave such shelters and continue to roam and hunt.

In the high latitudes of the Arctic, especially in places with a harsh climate, frequent and strong winds, and possibly where animals have great difficulty in feeding, most of them lie down in dens relatively regularly. On the northern coast of Greenland, 90% of all animals spend the winter in shelters, in the northern part of Baffin Island - 50 and in the south of Greenland - 30%; in the whole range, 70-80% of all bears spend the winter in shelters, and older males go to shelters earlier and leave them earlier.

In the Canadian Arctic, male polar bears use refuges from early August to late March (most frequently in September, October, and January); young ones, as well as females with one-year-old cubs, were found here in shelters from early October to early April. The state allocates funds to build shelters made of laminated waterproof plywood, this significantly helps the animals.

In the north of the Taimyr Peninsula (Cape Chelyuskin area), all animals spend the winter in dens, but the duration of their stay there varies and depends on gender, age and whether the female is pregnant or barren. At the very short term(according to the latest dates 52 days - from mid-December to early February) young bears go to shelters in the north of Taimyr; There are almost as many adult males in them. Females with young of the year spend 106 days in dens, spawning females - 115-125, and pregnant female bears - 160-170 days.

There is information in the literature about encounters of male polar bears in dens on Franz Josef Land, in the east of Taimyr, in the Kolyma Territory, etc., although everywhere here animals of various sex and age categories were observed and caught outside dens, which means that they remained active throughout the winter. The dens of such animals (obviously, the dens of barren females and young bears) are often located on sea ice and are more diverse in structure (shape, size) than the dens of pregnant bears. It is also obvious that the timing of their use is relatively variable.

Polar bear, also known as polar or northern bear (lat. Ursus maritimus ) - This carnivorous mammal an animal that belongs to the suborder Canidae, the bear family, the genus bears. 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).

Security status: vulnerable species.

Polar bear - description, structure, characteristics

The polar bear is the largest land predator and one of the most large predators planet, which is second in size only to elephant seal. The largest polar bear weighed just over 1 ton and was about 3 meters long. The height of this bear, standing on its hind legs, was 3.39 m. On average, the body length of males is about 2-2.5 m, the height at the withers ranges from 1.3 to 1.5 m, and average weight polar bear weight 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 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 beast's jaws are extremely powerful, with well-developed, sharp fangs and incisors. A polar bear has a total of 42 teeth. Facial vibrissae are absent in animals.

The tail of a polar bear is very short, ranging from 7 to 13 cm in length and is almost invisible under its dense fur. The polar bear's paws 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 hair, which prevents slipping on ice floes and prevents the paws from freezing. In addition, polar bears are excellent swimmers and divers, and between their toes there is a swimming membrane that helps during long swims.

The polar bear's fur is quite coarse, dense and extremely thick, with a well-developed undercoat. Such a rich fur coat and impressive layer subcutaneous fat up to 10 cm thick make animals practically invulnerable even in the most severe frosts and when in icy 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 dimensions. 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, can swim without stopping for several days. It is a known fact that a female polar bear swam non-stop to a feeding place for 9 days, although during this time she lost up to 22% of the weight of her body and her cub.

Polar predators have well-developed hearing, vision and sense of smell. The animal senses prey at a distance of more than 1 kilometer, and standing above the shelter of potential prey, it is able to detect the slightest movement. Through a meter-long layer of snow, a polar bear can smell a seal's vent site (a hole in the ice through which the seal breathes).

Life expectancy of a polar bear

IN natural conditions Polar bears live 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 the polar regions northern hemisphere, and their range extends to 88 degrees northern 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 animals' habitat is closely connected with the Arctic belt, covered with drifting and multi-year ice, replete with large polynyas with a high density of marine mammals, the main source of food for polar bears.

Today, the polar bear habitat includes several large populations:

Laptev, common in the Laptev Sea, eastern regions Kara Sea, in the west East Siberian Sea, on the New Siberian Islands and archipelago New Earth;
Kara-Barents Sea, representatives of which 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 Spitsbergen;
The Chukchi-Alaskan 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 Wrangel and Herald Islands.

In the north, the population distribution area covers part of the Arctic basin, although polar bears are found here much less frequently than in more southern seas. Interestingly, the largest polar bears live in the Barents Sea, and the smallest live on the island of Spitsbergen.

The existence of predators is tied to seasonal changes in the boundaries of polar ice. With the onset of warmth, polar bears retreat to the pole along with the ice, and in winter they return further south, and although they familiar environment There are coastal zones covered with ice, at which time predators often visit the mainland.

Polar bear hibernation

Pregnant females hibernate first of all; other polar bears do not overwinter in a den 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 polar bear's main source of food consists of various marine mammals and fish (seal, ringed seal, less often bearded seal ( sea hare), walrus, beluga 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 remains of the meal are eaten by arctic foxes, the eternal guides and parasites of the polar bear. If the hunt is unsuccessful, the animals are content with dead fish, carrion, and destroy bird nests, eating eggs and chicks. Polar bears are quite tolerant of their relatives when eating large prey, such as a dead whale, around which a large group of predators can gather. When wandering onto the mainland, polar bears willingly dig through 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 Southern Hemisphere(in Antarctica, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America, on the islands), and polar bears live in the Northern Hemisphere (in the north of Russia, Canada, Alaska, Greenland and some islands).

In summer, the ice retreats from the shores and may completely melt, depriving animals of their feeding grounds. Therefore, in the 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 a person, whom it sometimes purposefully tracks 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 pose a danger to humans.

How does a polar bear hunt?

The polar bear lies in wait for potential prey near the ice hole, and as soon as the prey’s head appears above the water, it stuns the animal with a powerful blow of its paw, after which it drags the carcass onto the ice.

Other no less effective method hunting involves turning over an ice floe on which seals are resting. Polar bears often hunt walruses, especially young and weak ones, but they can only cope with an enemy armed with deadly tusks on ice. The bear creeps up to the 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. He then plunges the front of his body into the water and grabs the seal. sharp teeth and pulls him out onto the ice, after which the victim can no longer cope with the 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, but then 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 over time and lasts from the end of March to the beginning of 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 the latent stage, when implantation of the embryo is delayed.

In October, female polar bears begin to dig dens in the snow drifts, and choose to do this certain places: for example, on the Wrangel Islands and Franz Josef Land, where in coastal zone up to 150-200 dens are set up at the same time. In mid-November, when the embryonic development of the fetus begins, female 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

Usually 1 to 3 cubs are born (usually 2 bear cubs), completely helpless and tiny, weighing from 450 to 750 g. In completely exceptional cases 4 cubs can be born. The fur of bear 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, small polar bears begin short forays out of the den, 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 one and a half years, the cubs continue to be fed milk and are under the protection of their mother, and after that they begin an independent life. The mortality rate among polar bear cubs ranges from 10 to 30%.

A female bear gives birth once every 3 years and throughout life cycle produces no more than 15 cubs, which indicates that the potential for increasing the population of these animals is too low.

Security 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. For 2013 in Russian polar ice There were approximately 5-6 thousand polar bears. Other countries have established restrictions on the fishing of these animals, regulated by an annual quota.

Enemies of the polar bear in nature

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

Differences between polar and brown bears

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

Taken from the website: www.spiegel.de

Polar and brown bears occupy completely different ecological niches, have distinctive phenotypic characteristics, feeding habits and social behavior, due to which they are classified as separate species. Below are the differences between polar 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, a 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 polar bear’s neck is long, while that of its brown counterpart is thick and short;
the head of a polar bear is not very large and flattened, while that of a brown bear is more massive and rounded;
Polar bears are inhabitants of the harsh and snowy expanses of the Arctic zone; their southern border of habitat is the tundra zone. Brown bears, unlike white bears, live in warmer climates in Russia, Canada, the USA, Europe, from Western Asia to northern China and Korea, as well as in Japan (see habitat maps below). Northern border their range is the southern border of the tundra;

The polar bear differs from the brown bear in the food it consumes. If polar bears are carnivorous predators, then the brown bear’s menu consists not only of meat and fish: most of the diet includes berries, nuts, insects and their larvae;
In polar bears, mostly only pregnant females hibernate, and their winter sleep lasts no more than 50-80 days. The winter sleep of a brown bear, both in females and males, can last from 75 to 195 days - it all depends on the area where the animal lives;
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, rarely 3 cubs. Browns can give birth to 2-3 and occasionally 4-5 cubs.

On the left is a polar bear, on the right is a 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 its skin and meat, and reveres this strong and ferocious animal as the embodiment of formidable natural forces. According to Eskimo legends, the confrontation between a man and a polar bear becomes a kind of initiation and 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 body weight and her one-year-old cub.
The largest male polar bear was shot in Alaska in 1960; the weight of the predator was 1002 kg.
Living in extreme conditions low temperatures, the polar bear is an extremely warm-blooded animal: its body temperature is about 31 degrees, so in order to avoid overheating, predators run extremely rarely.
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 Sever confectionery production and on the wrappers of the Bear in the North sweets created by the Krupskaya confectionery factory.
February 27 is the officially recognized Polar Bear Day, which is celebrated by fans of these animals all over the world.

The polar bear (lat. Ursus maritimus) is a predatory mammal of the bear family. It is a typical inhabitant of the Arctic, only occasionally entering the continental tundra. The polar bear is the largest representative not only of the family, but also of the entire order of predators. Some males have a body up to 3 meters long and weigh more than 700 kilograms. Despite their enormous weight and apparent clumsiness, polar bears are fast and agile even on land, and in water they swim easily and far and dive freely.

The polar bear's body is elongated, narrow in the front and massive in the back, the neck is long and mobile, the head is relatively small, with a straight profile, a narrow forehead and small, high-set eyes. The polar bear has very strong paws with large claws. The unusually thick, dense fur perfectly protects the bear’s body from cold and getting wet in icy water. This type of fur covers the entire body of the animal and has a uniform white color that does not change with the seasons. The skin of a polar bear is dark, almost black, which contributes to the least heat transfer. All year round under the skin lies a thick - 3-4 cm - layer of fat; on the back of the body it can reach a thickness of 10 centimeters. Fat not only protects the animal from the cold and serves as an energy storehouse, but also makes its body lighter, allowing it to easily stay afloat.

Currently, there are three populations of polar bears: Kara-Barents Sea (Svalbard-Novaya Zemlya), Laptev and Chukchi-Alaskan.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

The polar bear is one of the largest predators living on land. Its height at the withers (from the ground to the neck) is 1.5 m, the foot size is 30 cm in length and 25 in width; Male polar bears weigh 350-650 kg, some even more, females 175-300 kg. A bear lives 15-18 years.

Polar bears live in the Arctic - at the North Pole.

The color of the fur of this animal is from snow-white to yellowish, thanks to this the bear is almost invisible in the snow, but the polar bear’s skin is black, but it is not visible through the thick fur, except very slightly on the nose. Polar bears are very resilient and can cover long distances at a brisk pace. Their feet are covered with fur, which gives them greater stability when moving on ice and snow. Polar bears can run, but they usually walk.

Polar bears are excellent swimmers; they jump into the water head first or slide off an ice floe, and swim using their front paws. Dive with closed nostrils and with open eyes. They know how to fish. After coming ashore, they immediately shake off the water.

Polar bears spend much of the year on ice-bound shores along the coast. As a rule, they hunt alone. They search for food both day and night. Polar bears hunt seals by lying in wait at holes through which the seals breathe air, or by approaching animals lying on the ice. Polar bears have a very sensitive sense of smell. They are able to smell seals lying in a shelter under the snow.

These animals are very curious and intelligent. While tracking a seal, the polar bear covers its black nose with its paw, blocks the prey's escape route, or even pretends to be an ice floe floating by. A bear can experience emotions from rage to joy: after a successful hunt and hearty lunch he sometimes starts frolicking like a kitten.

In winter, when there is severe frost and polar night, the bear can hibernate. The she-bear also lies down for the winter in an ice den along with her cubs. For five months she does not eat any food and at the same time feeds the born cubs, usually two, with milk. The cubs, covered with sparse whitish fur, are born helpless, blind and deaf. Their length is 17-30 cm, and their weight is 500-700 g. Mother bear warms with her body. And in the spring, the grown-up cubs leave the den. Bear fathers do not take any part in raising children. And they themselves can pose a serious threat to them.

In summer, bears' food is more varied: small rodents, polar foxes, ducks and their eggs. Polar bears, like all other bears, can also eat plant foods: berries, mushrooms, mosses, herbs.

There are not very many polar bears left on earth and hunting for them is limited.