|
Added to My Visit
This item has already been added
|
|
Polar bear
Ursus maritimus
| Size |
Polar bears are usually seven to eight-and-a-half feet long. |
| Weight |
They can weigh up to 1,200 lbs. |
| Conservation Status |
On the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Polar bear is listed as Vulnerable. |
| Diet |
In the wild, these large bears hunt ringed seals, Arctic foxes, birds and baby walruses. They can easily kill a ringed seal with just one blow and can consume up to 200 lbs of food at one time.
At the Zoo, just one of our polar bears can consume one to five pounds of mackerel and ground meat and four pounds of omnivore biscuit (a chow specially formulated for bears) a day.
Forage foods are also provided and can include apples, raisins, peanut butter, honey and dehydrated fruit. They are also offered meaty shank bones as enrichment. |
| Geographic Range |
Primarily on arctic coasts, islands and adjacent sea ice of Norway and Russia, North America (Alaska, Canada) and Greenland. |
| Where to find me in the Zoo |
Bear Country |
Note: Description below should include Longevity, Behavior, and Reproduction information
Polar bears have very good eyesight and hearing although their sense of smell is their most highly developed sense. These remarkable bears have a transparent eyelid (nictitating membrane) that work like a pair of sunglasses filtering out the excessive brightness of snow and sun. They also work as waterproof goggles underwater.
Polar bears have 42 teeth and are well adapted to their carnivorous diet. Their canines are the largest and longest of any other bear. They use their extremely sharp carnassials and molars for shearing and biting food.
Longevity
In the wild, polar bears can live more than 30 years (34 years, 8 months is longest known.). In zoos, they can live 40 years or more (45 years is the longest known).
Behavior
Polar bears are solitary animals and mating occurs during the summer season. At the end of the Polar winter, which is in March or April, females give birth to between one and four cubs who stay with their mother for one or two years.
Because of the Arctic or midnight sun, polar bears are active any time of the day or night. On bitterly cold days, they might dig a hole, curl up and even cover their noses with their paws to keep warm. In warmer weather they might also burrow into the earth to keep cool.
Adaptations
Polar bears have adapted well to life in cold climates. Their fur is transparent and because it is hollow, can transmit the sun's warmth down to the layer of skin where it is converted to heat.
The skin of a polar bear is black, as well as its nose, footpads and claws. The layer of fat beneath their skin acts not only as insulation, but also as a food reserve. The rough leather pads on the bottom of their feet help them keep their balance on slippery surfaces.
Considering their large size, polar bears are surprisingly fast. On land, they can outrun a reindeer for short distances, moving at speeds of 25 mph. In water, polar bears can swim for considerable distances at a speed of up to six miles per hour. They paddle with their front feet and use their back feet as rudders.
Click here to ADOPT this animal!
Klondike: Female, born November 23, 1980 at the Bronx Zoo in New York. She arrived at the Zoo on October 1, 1981. She weighs nearly 475 lbs.
Coldilocks: Female, born December 13, 1980 at Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, NY. She arrived at the Zoo on October 6, 1981. She is slightly smaller than Klondike, but still weighs over 400 lbs.
Enrichment
Adoption Information
Featured Foster Parent
Winter is their favorite time of year. They love to play outside on a snowy day.
Many visitors ask how the polar bears do in a Philadelphia summer. In the summer, they are provided with shade structures, water misters and access to shaded caves during the day to escape the heat. The bears we have were born in an area with a warm summer, so they are used to the heat and will shed their thick winter coat for a thinner, summer one once the weather warms.
Enrichment
Enrichment items, which encourage the bear's natural behavior, are usually toys and food. A boomer ball (a large, durable plastic ball) is a favorite for them to play with on land or while floating in the water. They are also given ice treats with honey or apples in the middle.
Fun Facts
Wild polar bears spend the majority of their time alone, out on the ice flows, however, they are not true nomads. Discrete populations consistently use the same areas for feeding and breeding. Polar bears have been known to congregate in an area with a good food supply, such as a whale carcass.
They display many "intelligent" actions: hiding behind ice blocks, resourcefulness, capacity to reason, avoiding problems, baiting other animals and adaptations to new situations, including humans.
Polar bears are inactive about 87% of the time, living off stored fat, more so in the polar summer than winter. They can estivate--or go into "walking hibernation"--anytime food is scarce.
While swimming, they keep their eyes open, their nostrils shut and their ears flattened to their heads. They can stay underwater up to two minutes. They're capable of leaping out of the water seven to eight feet from a swimming start and sometimes catch seals this way.
Conservation
Introductions
Animal Lingo
Want More?
Sources:
(1) Philadelphia Zoo staff
(2) IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 04 January 2008.
|
|