The mention of a polar bear always brings to mind the Coca-Cola commercial with the polar bear sharing a coca-cola. I know these creatures do not really drink soda, but the image leaves you believing the giant bears are cuddly and friendly.
The truth is that these bears can become aggressive, they will attack humans if provoked, and they like to be alone.
Let’s look at some other interesting facts about these mammals.
How Much Does A Polar Bear Weigh?
The average male polar bear weighs about 990 pounds. The girls are a lot smaller and lighter. The female polar bear weighs about 550 pounds when mature.
At the end of their hunting season, a bear-like this can weigh as much as 50 pounds more than it did at the beginning of the season.
How Much Does A Polar Bear Weigh At Birth?
The polar bear comes into the world very small. They normally do not weigh more than 1.5 pounds when they are born.
They only carry their young for a 60-day period of gestation. The unique thing is they experience delayed implantation, meaning they do not get pregnant at the time of mating, they get pregnant later.
When the polar bear mates it will be springtime. Her implantation will delay until the fall. When fall arrives the bear is able to physiologically access her physical condition. Before she begins a gestation period she determines if she is healthy enough to birth, nurse and then tend to offspring until they are grown.
A little polar cub lives with their mom for about three years. If the female finds herself fit enough for the challenge of child-rearing the implantation proceeds and in about two months the cubs are born.
The female bear will have to reach a weight of about 490 pounds before the fall if the implantation process is going to happen. If she weighs less than 490 the implantation will not happen and she will not hibernate.
Hibernation
The soon-to-be mama bear digs a den to have her cubs in. She is probably going to give birth to two babies, but they have been known to have as many as 4 at one time. Sometimes between October and December, she will go inside of the den she created.
Mom and the cubs will stay inside the den until late winter or early spring.
No other polar bear hibernates. Only the pregnant mothers.
Long Lives
These giant mammals live to be about 30 years of age. However, most of them never live past 15.
The main causes of death for these creatures are disease, drowning, and humans. These creatures are hunted for food and sport.
Some of the smaller pups are killed by other bears and eaten. The cannibal bears are mostly adult males and the reason is usually scarce food supplies. Females bears are not known to be cannibals.
When food supplies are scarce a lot of pups do starve to death. Scarce food supplies also leave the mother no choice but to go hunt for longer periods of time and that leaves her pups unprotected from possible cannibal attacks.
The adults have no natural predators because they are the biggest thing around, by Artic wolves will attack and kill younger pups or cubs if the mother is gone off hunting.
Did You Know?
- Out of all of the species of bear the polar bear is the largest.
- The population of these fantastic mammals is dwindling steadily? There are currently fewer than 26,000 of these creatures left in the wild.
- The largest one of these animals on record weighed 2,200 pounds. It was shot in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska back in 1960.
- These bears do not have any natural predators.
- They primarily eat seals and marine mammals. They have been known to eat walrus and whales.
- They will sometimes generously share their food with artic foxes.
- These are the only carnivorous bear species.
- The meat from these creatures can kill you if it is not prepared properly.
FAQs
Do All Polar Bears Have White Hair?
Their hair appears to be white but if you could see it up close you would discover that their hair is transparent.
Where Do Polar Bears Live?
They live in the Artic.
Can Polar Bears Swim?
They are excellent swimmers.