Adaptation, Polar Bear.

Food, Eating and Hunting

The Polar Bear mainly eats seals, except in the summer when they eat vegetation and berries. They are called omnivores, which means that they eat plants besides meat.

When the Polar Bear hunts a seal he stays low to the ground and creeps quietly toward it. Even though Polar Bears usually do not like to swim, they probably will to catch a seal. Sometimes if a Polar Bear want to blend in with the snow even more when hunting, they will put their paw over their nose and lips so the seal won’t see them.

After they kill the seal by hitting it and strangling it, they will only eat the fat and skin, leaving the meat behind for scavengers like foxes and birds. Sometimes they come together to eat but they usually eat alone. Polar Bears travel many miles in search of food. Sometimes male bears fight over seal carcasses.

Polar bears only have two predators besides man. These are Orca Whales and adult walruses. Usually Orcas do not eat Polar Bears but sometimes they will attack cubs or swimming Polar Bears. Walruses usually don't eat them either but Polar Bears are scared of them because of their tusks.

Appearance

Polar Bears have two layers of fur over a thick layer of fat. Their coat is warm and waterproof. Sometimes they will even lie down on the snow to let heat escape from their body. Their skin is black under their white fur, which is good camouflage against the snow, for when they hunt. Polar bears also don't have any eyelashes because they would freeze in the cold.

Polar bears can walk on the ice without slipping, because of the fur in between their toes. When they walk their front paws turn inward and ...

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Appearance

Polar bears can walk on the ice without slipping, because of the fur in between their toes. When they walk their front paws turn inward and they usually don't run.

The polar bear is the largest bear in the world. Polar bears are full-grown at about five or six years of age and they stay with their mothers for about two and a half years. When the cubs are born they are blind, hairless and no bigger than a guinea pig. The largest polar bear ever seen was eleven feet standing. Their shoulder height is five feet. Males weigh 660 to 770 pounds.

Adaptation

The Polar Bear has a thick coat and furry paws which keep him warm in his freezing environment. Their white fur is good camouflage and they are also very powerful swimmers.

Polar bears can move on ice with ease because they walk pigeon toed and that helps them to keep their balance. Sometimes they "ski" using their back paws to propel themselves and their front paws to slide. Their paws act like snowshoes. They are, however, unable to defend themselves when they are swimming.

Habitat, Environment and Shelter

The polar bear lives in the Arctic where there is snow almost all year round and it is always very cold. All year in the Arctic is sort of like one day for most people. The sun is up for the short Arctic summer and it sets for the long winter. In the Arctic, three quarters of the year is winter, there isn't any spring or fall really, and the summer only lasts for about a month and a half. Most of the Arctic land is called "Tundra" and that is where the polar bear lives.

In the fall many polar bears dig dens in the shelter of rocks and cliffs. They sleep for several months, living off their fat, which keeps them warm.

Life Cycles, Mating and Reproduction

In the beginning of winter female’s look for places to give birth. The female digs a den into a slopping snow bank using her feet to dig. The den is very warm and the female has her babies there. In the den, the mother makes a little hole over her head to get fresh air. After a week or two the family leaves the den for good.

Female Polar Bear's cubs stay with her for about two and a half years and are almost fully-grown when they leave their mother. The female mates every 3 years, from the age of 5 or 6 to 20 years old. Mating season for Polar Bears is in April and May. The female’s urine has a different smell when she is ready to mate. The male bears follow this and eventually find the female.

Behaviour and Lifestyle

Polar bears come together to eat sometimes. Male bears fight with other male bears for seals. Polar bears travel many miles in search of food. They are scared of adult walruses because of their tusks. Polar bears usually don't come together.

Summing up a polar bear

Grow two coats of fur.
Polar bears have two thick layers of fur. These fur coats are so thick that polar bears can be out in temperatures well below zero degrees and not get cold at all. Their fur is coated with a special kind of oil that keeps the icy water away from their skin when they swim

Grow your toenails until they work like hooks!
Polar bears have long, curved claws that are as sharp as nails, which help them cling to slippery ice when they walk or run.

Add a thick layer of blubber to your body.
Polar bears aren't actually overweight, but they do have up to five inches of fat, called blubber, under their skin. This blubber keeps them warm. It also serves as stored energy to help polar bears get through the winter, when food is scarce

Perfect your sense of smell.
Polar bears have an outstanding sense of smell. They can smell seals, their favourite food, from as far as ten miles away! When there isn't many food closes by, polar bears' nose help them hunt for dinner

Blend into the snow.
Polar bears are white - the same colours as the snow and ice around them. Because they blend into their surroundings so well, polar bears can sneak up on their prey without being spotted.
Polar bears are perfectly suited to life in the freezing Arctic.