Ursus maritimus polar bear is commonly called sea bear, ice bear, the white bear. Polar bears are one of the largest carnivores on earth.

General Description:

Body Size and Body Weight:

Male polar bears are much larger and heavier than females. Even a male polar bear weighs much more than ten humans.

Adult male polar bears weigh around 770–1,500 lb and are 9 ft 10 in their size. Female polar bear weighs about 330–550 lb and 7 ft 10 in length.

Skin and Fur:

They have white coats and black skin. Under the fur is the black skin, which absorbs all the sunlight and beneath the skin is another insulating layer of fat.

The white coat usually turns yellow with age.

Foot and Claws:

They have broad feet with hairy soles; these soles prevent them from slipping, moving through the ice, and acting as insulation.

Polar bears have short, stocky and sharp claws for digging in ice, and capturing their prey and claws are also used for gaining traction.

Teeth:

Polar bears have 42 teeth, can easily relate to their carnivore diet and large canines. 

Head and Neck:

Polar bears have long necks with small heads and long skulls.

Habitat and Range of Polar Bear:

Polar bears or sea bears spend most of their time on the sea. Their favorite habitat is the "Arctic ring of life", the sea ice over the continental shelf and the archipelagos.

They range throughout the Arctic region, Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland, Norway.

Diet of Polar Bear:

Polar bears are opportunistic and predator carnivorous mammals and feed mainly on seals and pinnipeds. Polar bears are stealth hunters, polar bears ambush near the breathing holes of seals and wait for the seals to come out for air on the surface and sometimes dig the snow to take the seal out.

Sometimes polar bears also eat the fish, garbage near human settlements and even carcasses of whales, beluga whales.

Polar bear Hunting:

Polar bear hunting is done mainly by some Indigenous people for different purposes. Each part of a hunted polar bear has its importance as fur is used for making jackets and footwear; the flesh is also edible, but the liver has a high content of vitamin A which may sometimes make it poisonous.

The fate of polar bears is used in food and fuel for lighting purposes; the heart is dried and used as a powder in medicines.

Polar Bear Facts:

There are some interesting facts about polar bears; some; some of them are as follow,

• Polar bears can swim
• Polar bears are marine mammals
• A polar bear is among those which have significant sub populations
• Polar bears are black
• Polar bears maintain a balance in the ecosystem
• Grolar bears, as a polar bear-grizzly bear hybrid, exist
• They have a good sense of smell
• Polar bears have the most minor ratio of successful hunts
• Scientists can extract DNA from their footprints
• Polar bears face climate changes more severely

Polar bears can swim:

Polar bears are among those mammals which can swim in water for days. Their speed in water is six mph. Their paws are well adapted to puddles in water.

Polar bears are marine mammals:

Polar bears are the only species that live in the ocean and are considered marine mammals. 

A polar bear is among those which have significant sub populations:

The polar bear has about 19 sub populations because the wild polar bear has a population of about 26,000.

Polar bears are black in color:

It is one of the interesting facts that polar bears are black in color. Their fur reflects visible light, due to which they appear white beneath this translucent fur is the black skin.

Polar bears maintain a balance in the ecosystem:

Polar bears are one of the largest predators, so they are at the top of the food web in their habitat and maintain a balance in the ecosystem.

Grolar bears as, a polar bear- grizzly bear hybrid, exist:

“Grolar or pizzly bears” are a hybrid of polar and grizzly bears, and their existence is confirmed by genetic testing.

They have a good sense of smell:

Polar bears have a good sense of smell and can smell their prey from kilometers away. Polar bears can easily sense seals even under meters of thick snow.

Polar bear has least ratio of successful hunts:

Research on polar bears shows that only 2% of their total hunts are successful. Their main prey is seals, either ringed seals or bearded seals.

Scientist can extract their DNA from their footprints:

With advancements in biotechnology and science, scientists can extract DNA from their footprints in the snow and even of the seal the polar bear has recently eaten.

Polar bears face climatic changes more severely:

Due to changes in the climate, they face drastic effects including habitat loss, contact with spill oils results in lowering insulating power of their fur, they also may suffer low reproduction rate due to pesticides which may enter them from their prey.