The Great White Bear The Largest Land Carnivore

Ursus maritimus The polar bears scientific name. They weigh about 551kg to 650 kg. They range from 2.5m to 3m in length.

Home Range The area an animal travels in its normal activities. They have enormous home ranges, covering very large distances while gathering food, mating and caring for young.

Distance Covered An individual polar bear may cover an area equal to 259,000 square kilometers during its lifetime. The distance covered changes year to year due to ice conditions and seal populations.

Food Sources Polar bears are meat eaters, while on the ice their diet consists of mostly seals. They can go weeks between meals.

Summer and Fall Months After the ice has melted polar bears are stranded on land. During this time they have limited food sources. They scavenge the shoreline for bird eggs, rodents, berries and anything else that is edible.

Distribution Polar bears are found throughout the circumpolar arctic. They have been seen as far north as the North Pole. North Arctic Ocean has very little food. Southern range is limited to amount of winter ice forms.

Distribution Map

Population There are 20,000 to 40,000 polar bears in the world. 15,000 of them are living in Canada.

Distinct Polar Bear Regions Siberia, Svalbard- Franz Josef Land,Greenland, Canadian Arctic, Alaska, Wrangel Island, Hudson Bay - James Bay

Sharp Decline The number of bears is in decline due to serve over hunting. Polar bears also having trouble finding food because of global warming.

Life Span Adult polar bears have no natural predators. They can live years but usually live between years.

Reasons for Low Life Span Hunting Disease Starvation Pollution

Credits The Bear Den Above and Beyond ( all photos) National Wildlife Federation