Polar Bear Images Download [UPDATED]

We founded the day to coincide with the time period when polar bear moms and cubs are snug in their dens. As part of our celebration, we focus on the need to protect denning families across the Arctic.

Polar bear cubs are born in winter dens hidden under the snow. At birth, they are blind, weigh little more than one pound, and have only a light layer of fur to protect them from the cold. Families remain in the den until spring when the cubs are finally large enough to survive the rigors of outside Arctic conditions.

Polar Bear Images Download

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Donate to protect moms and cubs. From better understanding the denning period, to protecting moms and cubs from disturbances, and addressing the overarching threat of climate change, your gift will help polar bear families.

Our team is now researching a promising new den-detection method that could greatly improve our ability to locate dens under the snow, helping to identify and protect denning areas to ensure the safety of moms and cubs. Your gift will help fund this critical research and other conservation efforts to give polar bear families a fighting chance.

The Arctic sea ice cap is a large area of frozen seawater floating on top of the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas and straits. For polar bears, the sea ice is a crucial platform for life. They use the ice to travel long distances to new areas. They hunt for seals by finding their dens or sitting next to gaps in the ice, waiting for the unsuspecting prey to pop up. Sometimes, pregnant females dig in the sea ice to create maternity dens, where they give birth and take care of their cubs.

In a new study published in Ecological Applications, Laidre and her colleagues described how declining sea ice concentrations are affecting the behavior, health, and reproductive success of polar bears. Using field observations and remote sensing, the study showed that polar bears are spending more time on land and are fasting for longer periods of time. Mother bears are also producing smaller cub litters, which the team projected will continue to decline for the next three polar bear generations.

The team specifically studied a subpopulation of bears that depend on seasonal sea ice in Baffin Bay. The team tracked polar bear movements across the bay over the past two decades. The map at the top of this page shows the movements of 43 tagged adult females from 1991-1997 (left) and 38 adult females from 2009-2015 (right).

They found that most bears follow the seasonal growth and recession of sea ice to end up on Baffin Island in the fall, when sea ice is usually at its lowest extent. They usually wait on Baffin Island until the ice forms again so they can leave. On average, the bears are spending 30 more days on land now than they did in the 1990s. Laidre says that is because the ice is retreating earlier and there has been more open water in recent summers.

The maps above show the difference in sea ice extent around Baffin Bay on July 15, 1993 and July 15, 2013. The satellite data are processed by NASA-funded scientists and stored at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The graph below shows the onshore arrival and departure of polar bears on Baffin Island relative to dates of sea ice advance and retreat. Sea ice has been breaking up earlier in the spring over the years (green) and is forming later in the fall (blue).

Cub litter size was also affected by the body condition of the mothers and by sea-ice availability. The researchers found larger litter sizes when the mothers were in a good body condition and when spring breakup occurred later in the year, meaning bears had more time on the sea ice in spring to find food.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using data courtesy of Kristin Laidre and Harry Stern at the University of Washington, and sea ice data from the National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Story by Kasha Patel.

In spring 2016, U.S. and Russian scientists conducted the first aerial survey to estimate abundances of polar bears and their ice seal prey over the entire Chukchi sea region. For the first time, they used infrared technology to detect free roaming polar bears. This collaborative, innovative research opens new possibilities for monitoring mammals that range over the vast, remote Arctic, and across international borders.

In 2008, polar bears were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to loss of sea-ice habitat in a warming Arctic. Ringed and bearded seals, both important polar bear prey, are also listed as threatened.

Previous Chukchi Sea aerial surveys were restricted to U.S. airspace and limited in spatial coverage. To better understand the distribution and abundance of Chukchi Sea polar bears and their ice seal prey, a new survey approach was needed.

Many polar bear aerial surveys are conducted in late summer and early fall, when there is less sea ice and bears are concentrated in smaller areas. In this study, the team used long-ranging airplanes to conduct surveys in the spring.

But it is not easy to spot a white bear in a vast icescape. In this study, researchers used thermal cameras to detect the warm bodies of animals on sea ice. Infrared technology has previously proven highly effective for surveying seals on sea ice. Until this survey, it had never been used to detect free ranging polar bears.

The team combined infrared imagery with digital photography and direct visual observation to detect and identify bears, bear tracks, and seals. From these data they created models relating bear and track densities to environmental factors such as sea ice extent to predict abundance and distribution throughout the study area.

In August 2013, polar bear specialist was acting as a guide for wealthy tourists in Svalbard, Norway when he came across the carcass of an emaciated polar bear. Stirling told the media it had probably died from lack of sea ice caused by climate change when he had no evidence that this was the case. Starvation is the leading natural cause of death for all polar bears. More on another dead starving bear sob story from 2014 here.

Polar bears are both terrestrial and pagophilic (ice-living) and are considered to be marine mammals due to their dependence on marine ecosystems. They prefer the annual sea ice but live on land when the ice melts in the summer. They are mostly carnivorous and specialized for preying on seals, particularly ringed seals. Such prey is typically taken by ambush; the bear may stalk its prey on the ice or in the water, but also will stay at a breathing hole or ice edge to wait for prey to swim by. The bear primarily feeds on the seal's energy-rich blubber. Other prey include walruses, beluga whales and some terrestrial animals. Polar bears are usually solitary but can be found in groups when on land. During the breeding season, male bears guard females and defend them from rivals. Mothers give birth to cubs in maternity dens during the winter. Young stay with their mother for up to two and a half years.

The polar bear is considered to be a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with an estimated total population of 22,000 to 31,000 individuals. Its biggest threats are climate change, pollution and energy development. Climate change has caused a decline in sea ice, giving the polar bear less access to its favoured prey and increasing the risk of malnutrition and starvation. Less sea ice also means that the bears must spend more time on land, increasing conflicts with people. Polar bears have been hunted, both by native and non-native peoples, for their coats, meat and other items. They have been kept in captivity in zoos and circuses and are prevalent in art, folklore, religion and modern culture.

The polar bear was given its common name by Thomas Pennant in A Synopsis of Quadrupeds (1771). It was known as the "white bear" in Europe between the 13th and 18th centuries, as well as "ice bear", "sea bear" and "Greenland bear". The Norse referred to it as isbjrn ("ice bear") and hvitebjrn ("white bear"). The bear is called nanook by the Inuit. The Netsilik cultures additionally have different names for bears based on certain factors, such as sex and age: these include adult males (anguraq), single adult females (tattaq), gestating females (arnaluk), newborns (hagliaqtug), large adolescents (namiaq) and dormant bears (apitiliit).[5] The scientific name Ursus maritimus is Latin for "sea bear".[6][7]

Carl Linnaeus classified the polar bear as a type of brown bear (Ursus arctos), labelling it as Ursus maritimus albus-major, articus in the 1758 edition of his work Systema Naturae.[8] Constantine John Phipps formally described the polar bear as a distinct species, Ursus maritimus in 1774, following his 1773 voyage towards the North Pole.[4][9] Due to its adaptations to a marine environment, some taxonomists like Theodore Knottnerus-Meyer have placed the polar bear in its genus Thalarctos.[10][11] However Ursus is widely considered to be the valid genus for the species based on the fossil record and the fact that it can breed with the brown bear.[11][12]

Different subspecies have been proposed including Ursus maritimus maritimus and U. m. marinus.[a][13] However these are not supported and the polar bear is considered to be monotypic.[14] One possible fossil subspecies, U. m. tyrannus, was posited in 1964 by Bjrn Kurtn, who reconstructed the subspecies from a single fragment of an ulna which was approximately 20 percent larger than expected for a polar bear.[12] However, re-evaluation in the 21st century has indicated that the fragment likely comes from a giant brown bear.[15][16]

The polar bear is one of eight extant species in the bear family Ursidae and of six extant species in the subfamily Ursinae. A possible phylogeny of extant bear species is shown in a cladogram based on complete mitochondrial DNA sequences from Yu et al. (2007)[17] The polar bear and the brown bear form a close grouping, while the relationships of the other species are not very well resolved.[18] 006ab0faaa