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-- Polar Bear

polarbear

Estimated Population: 22,000-27,000/3,000-5,000 in Alaska

Ways to identify this species: Largest species of bear, all white fur

Biology

The polar bear is found throughout the Arctic region; in Alaska the polar bear can be found in the Chukchi, Bering and Beaufort Sea.

Reaching up to 11 feet in height and weighing up to 1100 pounds, adult male polar bears are the world’s largest true carnivore (meat-eating mammal).

A coat of fur covers whole body, even the bottom of its paws, which prevents slipping on the ice. Each hair is a clear hollow tube that channels the sun’s energy to its black skin underneath to keep the bear warm. The polar bear's fur serves also as camouflage for hunting.

Polar bears are a migratory species, spending summers on northern coastal regions before heading out onto the sea ice each fall to hunt for seals. Ice and snow are essential to polar bears for hunting, traveling and denning.

Strictly carnivores, they prefer to eat seals and scavenge whale and walrus carcasses.

Threats

Global warming is the most serious threat to polar bears. Rising arctic temperatures are reducing both the extent and duration of the sea ice polar bears depend on for hunting, forcing them to spend more time on land away from vital food supplies. The disappearing ice is particularly hard on breeding females, who must feed both themselves and their cubs. In some areas, polar bear birth rates have dropped by up to 15% in the last decade, and the bears show increasing signs of undernourishment.

Polar bears are also threatened by toxic pollutants, oil and gas development, illegal poaching and overhunting.

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