27 Facts About Polar bear

Polar bear is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses.

Polar bear chose the scientific name Ursus maritimus, the Latin for "maritime bear", due to the animal's native habitat.

Polar bear was previously considered to be in its own genus, Thalarctos.

Polar bear is found in the Arctic Circle and adjacent land masses as far south as Newfoundland.

Polar bear is a marine mammal because it spends many months of the year at sea.

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The polar bear tends to frequent areas where sea ice meets water, such as polynyas and leads, to hunt the seals that make up most of its diet.

Only other bear of comparable size to the polar bear is the Kodiak bear, which is a subspecies of brown bear.

Research of injury patterns in polar bear forelimbs found injuries to the right forelimb to be more frequent than those to the left, suggesting, perhaps, right-handedness.

The hollow guard hairs of a polar bear coat were once thought to act as fiber-optic tubes to conduct light to its black skin, where it could be absorbed; however, this hypothesis was disproved by a study in 1998.

Polar bear has an extremely well developed sense of smell, being able to detect seals nearly 1.

Polar bear is an excellent swimmer and often will swim for days.

When walking, the polar bear tends to have a lumbering gait and maintains an average speed of around 5.

Whereas brown bears often maul a person and then leave, polar bear attacks are more likely to be predatory and are almost always fatal.

The Polar bear was able to reach the truck and tore one of the doors off the truck before Hoshino was able to drive off.

In 1992, a photographer near Churchill took a now widely circulated set of photographs of a polar bear playing with a Canadian Eskimo Dog a tenth of its size.

Polar bear is the most carnivorous member of the bear family, and throughout most of its range, its diet primarily consists of ringed and bearded seals .

The polar bear kills the seal by biting its head to crush its skull.

Polar bear is the apex predator within its range, and is a keystone species for the Arctic.

Hunters commonly used teams of dogs to distract the Polar bear, allowing the hunter to spear the Polar bear or shoot it with arrows at closer range.

In Russia, polar bear furs were already being commercially traded in the 14th century, though it was of low value compared to Arctic fox or even reindeer fur.

However, since polar bear fur has always played a marginal commercial role, data on the historical harvest is fragmentary.

The permit process required that the Polar bear be taken from an area with quotas based on sound management principles.

Risks to the polar bear include climate change, pollution in the form of toxic contaminants, conflicts with shipping, oil and gas exploration and development, and human-bear interactions including harvesting and possible stresses from recreational polar-bear watching.

International Union for Conservation of Nature, Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, United States Geological Survey and many leading polar bear biologists have expressed grave concerns about the impact of climate change, with some predicting extinction by 2100.

Warnings about the future of the polar bear are often contrasted with the fact that worldwide population estimates have increased over the past 50 years and are relatively stable today.

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Many Inuit believe the polar bear population is increasing, and restrictions on commercial sport-hunting are likely to lead to a loss of income to their communities.

The polar bear is the mascot of Bowdoin College, Maine; the University of Alaska Fairbanks; and the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary.