International Polar Bear Day

International Polar Bear Day

International Polar Bear Day is an annual event celebrated every February 27, to coincide with the time period when polar bear mums and cubs are sleeping in their dens, and to raise awareness about the conservation status of the polar bear.

Polar bear, (Ursus maritimus), also called white bear, sea bear, or ice bear, great white northern bear (family Ursidae) found throughout the Arctic region. The polar bear is the largest and most powerful carnivore on land, a title it shares with a subspecies of brown bear called the Kodiak bear. It has no natural predators and knows no fear of humans, making it an extremely dangerous animal.

Polar bears are stocky, with a long neck, relatively small head, short, rounded ears, and a short tail. The male, which is much larger than the female, weighs 410 to 720 kg (900 to 1,600 pounds). It grows to about 1.6 metres tall at the shoulder and 2.2–2.5 metres in length. The tail is 7–12 cm long. Sunlight can pass through the thick fur, its heat being absorbed by the bear’s black skin. Polar bears are superbly insulated by up to 10 cm of adipose tissue, their hide and their fur. Polar bear fur consists of a layer of dense underfur and an outer layer of guard hairs, which appear white to tan but are actually transparent. Two genes that are known to influence melanin production, LYST and AIM1, are both mutated in polar bears, possibly leading to the absence on this pigment in their fur. The broad feet have hairy soles to protect and insulate as well as to facilitate movement across ice, as does the uneven skin on the soles of the feet, which helps to prevent slipping. Strong, sharp claws are also important for gaining traction, for digging through ice, and for killing prey.

Polar bears are solitary and overwhelmingly carnivorous, feeding especially on the ringed seal but also on the bearded seal and other pinnipeds. The bear stalks seals resting on the ice, ambushes them near breathing holes, and digs young seals from snow shelters where they are born. Polar bears prefer ice that is subject to periodic fracturing by wind and sea currents, because these fractures offer seals access to both air and water. As their prey is aquatic, polar bears are excellent swimmers, and they are even known to kill beluga whales. In swimming, the polar bear uses only its front limbs, an aquatic adaptation found in no other four-legged mammal. Polar bears are opportunistic as well as predatory: they will consume dead fish and carcasses of stranded whales and eat garbage near human settlements.

– Source: Internet –