INTERNATIONAL POLAR BEAR DAY is around the corner! Today, we are celebrating what makes these animals so iconic.
On February 27, we honor one of the most majestic creatures and top predators on our planet — the polar bear. What better way to celebrate these remarkable animals than by learning about what makes these animals so special. 🐻❄️
Here are our top ten favorite facts about polar bears:
- Across the Arctic circle, there are about 26,000 polar bears, all falling within 19 subpopulations. Only one of these subpopulations is increasing.
- The iconic “whiteness” of a polar bear’s fur is actually not white, but translucent, only appearing white because of the light it reflects.
- Polar bears are well adapted to the arctic. Their ears and tails are small to conserve heat and paws are slip-proof, allowing them to grip the ice.
- And they are adept swimmers, capable of swimming up to 6 mph and for days at a time. In fact, polar bears spend so much of their time at sea, they are classified as marine animals.
- A polar bear will spend over half its life hunting for food, but only 2% of hunts are successful. For those hunts that are successful, a polar bear can eat up to 100 pounds of food in one sitting.
- Their sense of smell is very acute, allowing them to smell food from over 1 kilometer away.
- Polar bears can walk up to 1,000 kilometers in a season. One satellite-tracked female trekked over 4,500 km!
- Despite being mostly solitary creatures, polar bears are excellent communicators — wagging their heads from side to side when they want to play, and hissing, snorting or roaring when angry. They will even touch noses with another bear to ask to share food.
- Female polar bears typically have a litter every three years, giving birth to one to three cubs (twins being the most common) in the wintertime. They remain in their den until the springtime, where the mother doesn’t eat or drink, relying on her fat reserves to nurse her young. For several years, cubs will stay close to their mother, learning everything they need to know to survive from her.
- Polar bears are in danger due to melting sea ice caused by our warming planet, making it much more difficult to hunt, travel, breed and den. If we don’t reverse course, polar bear populations may decline as much as 30% by 2050.
If you find polar bears just as remarkable as we do and want to protect their future, consider donating this INTERNATIONAL POLAR BEAR DAY.
