Polar Bear

Female polar bear guarding her young | Fish and Wildlife Service

Scientific Name: Ursus maritimus

Habitat:

A denizen of the far north, the polar bear spends part of the year on the Arctic ice cap and part of the year on the coastal plain. Populations of polar bears are found in Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and Alaska. These animals range widely throughout their habitat in search of food or mates.

Refuges where the polar bear can be found:

• Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
• Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Status:

Fewer than 25,000 polar bears survive in the wild, with 60 percent of these in Canada. The bruins have been protected from hunting for 40 years. In 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the polar bear as a threatened species because of the extreme loss of Arctic sea ice habitat from climate change. These animals depend on sea ice to hunt, and as global temperatures rise, the bears have less and less viable habitat.

Another major threat facing polar bears is oil and gas drilling in its habitat. A spill in the Arctic could be catastrophic. The extreme conditions would make clean up and containment of a spill extremely difficult. Scientists estimate that oil could be trapped in sea ice for decades. Drilling in the Arctic–especially the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge–could do irrevocable damage to some of the most pristine lands and unique ecosystems in the world. It would imperil not only polar bears, but Arctic fox, caribou, snowy owl, seals, wolves, walruses and other species.

Male polar bear on pack ice

Description:

Standing as tall as 11 feet and weighing as much as 1,400 pounds, the polar bear is the largest member of the bear family. Much of their weight is from the four-inch layer of fat around their bodies, which helps insulate them from the brutal Arctic conditions.

These bruins are mostly carnivorous, with the ringed seal forming the bulk of their diet. A polar bear may stalk a seal by waiting quietly for hours for its prey to emerge from its blow hole. Polar bears typically eat only the seal’s skin and blubber. The remains become an important part of the food chain, offering sustenance for Arctic foxes and other smaller mammals and birds.

Adult males often travel great distances to find a female during the breeding season. Pregnant females find sites on the mainland in the fall in which to hibernate and give birth. These dens can be as much as 40 degrees warmer than the air outside. Two cubs are usually born in December or January. In the spring, mom leads them out on the coastal plain. The cubs stay with their mother for about two years, until they are ready to go out on their own.

What NWRA is doing:

Help us protect the Arctic coastal plain in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge where the polar bear and many other species live. NWRA is part of a grassroots advocacy movement urging Congress to permanently designate the Arctic coastal plain as a wilderness area. A wilderness designation will keep oil and gas development out of this vitally important landscape. Read more.