Arctic - the territory adjacent to the North Pole. It includes the Arctic Ocean and islands off the coast of North America and Eurasia. This is the land where polar bears live. Even its name comes from the Greek "arktos", which means bear. And it is in these harsh conditions that the amazing and slightly mysterious wanderer of the icy deserts lives.
Without changing the harsh environment
The world where polar bears live is the ice fields of the islands of the Arctic Ocean and the coasts of the continents. A truly wild land. Despite this, the bear living here easily finds food and shelter among the cold, endless ice. It often happens that along with ice floes, polar bears end up in Iceland, and even in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan. But after such a journey, they always return to their usual environment, making huge transitions overland, moving due north.
Scientists have noticed that the polar bear is very attached to certain places, especially he likes water sources that are free of ice. In winter, the animal prefers the southern margins of the Arctic ice. But in summer the bears disperse more widely, even reaching the North Pole. The places where they are found are the whole Arctic. But from 88 degrees north latitude and further north, the beast is very rare.
How to survive in the ice world
How much does a polar bear weigh? Adult males, especially those found in the Bering Sea, can reach three meters in height and weigh up to a ton or even more. These are the real giants. Such an animal easily overcomes deep snow and quickly moves on ice, passing up to 30-40 km per day. Two-meter ice hummocks are also not a problem for bears, which is a bit surprising given their huge size. In addition, polar bears are excellent swimmers. They are able to swim up to 80 km in the icy water of the Arctic. There was even a case when a bear swam 685 km, while losing 48 kg (20% of her weight).
Everything they have is adapted to survive among the cold ice floes. White wool absorbs the light of the sun well, and in these parts it is worth its weight in gold. Hollow hairs contain air, helping to keep warm. A powerful layer of fatty tissue under the skin in winter reaches 10 cm in thickness.
This stern giant feeds on marine animals: walruses, seals, etc. When hunting, he stuns his prey with a blow to the head when it sticks out of the water, and then pulls it out onto the ice. However, a walrus cannot be defeated in this way; a white predator can only cope with it on land. The bear regales itself with the skin and fat, if there is no particular hunger, the rest of the carcass goes toarctic foxes.
The harsh conditions of the Arctic region, where polar bears live, do not allow these animals to multiply rapidly. In a lifetime, one she-bear can give birth to no more than 15 cubs. At the same time, mortality among cubs reaches 30%. If we also take into account the poaching of this animal, then the conclusion suggests itself about the threat to the existence of polar bears as a species.
The polar bear has become the hero of many fairy tales, legends, films and cartoons. People love these fluffy arctic bears, sometimes they are so funny. And the land where polar bears live remains mysterious and unknown for most of us.
