Polar Bear

the polar bear in it's natural habitat. Come with me and you can learn about these beautiful but deadly creatures. Warning: Polar bears will eat so I recommend you keep all body parts in the train at all times and stay close if you’re scared!

Physical Characteristics

The scientific name for a polar bear is Ursus maritimus it means sea bear. It is called sea bear because polar bears are expert swimmers. Polar bears have webbed feet that help them swim at a speed of six point two miles per hour. These marine mammals are six to nine feet long. Female polar bears weigh two hundred to seven hundred pounds. Males weigh five hundred fifty to one thousand three hundred twenty pounds but can reach up to one thousand seven hundred pounds if they eat a lot.

Habitat

Polar bears are found in Canada, the U.S.(Alaska), Greenland, and Norway. Their habitat is very cold places in the arctic. Their shelter is edges of pack ice. In the winter where polar bears live the average temperature is minus thirty degrees fahrenheit. You would think Brr I feel so sorry for polar bears. But polar bears have thick layers of fat called blubber that keeps them warm and in fact polar bears actually overheat I will talk about that later in my conclusion at the end.

Diet

A polar bear's meals are mostly made up of ringed seal fat but occasionally they feed off of walrus, beluga whale, bow head whale, and other animals eggs. A polar bear needs four point four pounds of food a day. That means a ringed

seal provides up to eight days worth of energy for a polar bear. The way a polar bear catches food is by waiting for a seal to come up for a breath and then the polar bear jumps on them and eats them and then they get to eat yummy ringed seal fat! A fun fact is polar bears have black skin and then a layer of colorless fur over that makes them camouflage so that they blend in with the snow when they sneak up on their prey (Their prey is mostly ringed seals). Did you know less than two percent of a polar bear's hunts actually catch them food? A full grown males predator are other male polar bears. Polar bear cubs predators are wolves and other polar bears. But polar bear cubs may be protected by their mother. A Mother

polar bears predator is other female polar bears.

Young

Now I’m going to tell you about polar bear cubs and the females when they are pregnant. A polar bear is born live from it's mother because as you know polar bear are mammals. Polar bear cubs drink milk from their mothers and they eat the same thing as bigger polar bears(so mostly ringed seals). Polar bear cubs are a foot long nose to tail. Newborns weigh four hundred fifty five grams to six hundred eighty grams. Newborn polar bears weigh as much as a guinea pig, I find that interesting compared to how big they get when they are full grown. Now I’m going to tell you about the mother when it’s pregnant and a couple cool facts. A polar bears mating season is March through May so the young are born November through January.

A thing that I find interesting is that female polar bears are pregnant for only eight months instead of nine like a human. Also when female polar bears are pregnant they stay in maternity dens.

Conclusion

Now it comes to my conclusion. Its very very sad to leave you. I will talk about extinction now like I said I would. It has been declared that polar bears are at risk of becoming extinct and many people are becoming worried including myself. Even since they made laws about hunting it hasn't really helped. The biggest problem for polar bears is global warming we can not control that, but we can take action, do that by going to the link below and adopting a polar bear today! http://www.defenders.org/polar-bear/basic-facts. Now I’m going to tell you one last fact. Did you know polar bears do not hibernate? (I didn't)

Bibliography

Websites http://www.defenders.org/polar-bear/basic-facts,http://www.kidzone.ws/sg/polarbear/polar_bear.htm, http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/essentials/fur-and-skin, http://www.livescience.com/27436-polar-bear-facts.html, http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/polar-bear, google search, http://www.answers.com/Q/Who_are_relatives_of_the_polar_bear, https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080528235053AAHiLpv, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/polar-bear/, http://www.wwf.org.uk/wildlife/polar_bear/top_10_polar_bear_facts.cfm, http://science.time.com/2012/05/02/can-polar-bears-keep-their-heads-above-water-in-a-warming-world/, http://seaworld.org/animal-info/animal-infobooks/polar-bears/diet-and-eating-habits/http://www.endangeredpolarbear.com/fun-facts-about-polar-bears.html

Books

Bears Wexo, John Bonnet