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 travels long distances over vast desolate expanses, generally on drifting
oceanic ice floes, searching for seals, its primary prey. Except for one subspecies
of grizzly bear, the polar bear is the largest and most powerful carnivore on land. 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 (5.3 feet) tall at the shoulder
and 2.2–2.5 metres in length. The tail is 7–12 cm (3–5 inches) long. Sunlight can
pass through the thick fur, its heat being absorbed by the bear’s black skin. Under
the skin is a layer of insulating fat. 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.

Mating occurs in spring, and implantation of the fertilized ovum is delayed. Including
the delay, gestation may last 195–265 days, and one to four cubs, usually two, are
born during the winter in a den of ice or snow. Cubs weigh less than 1 kg at birth and
are not weaned until after they are two years old. Young polar bears may die of
starvation or may be killed by adult males, and for this reason female polar bears are
extremely defensive of their young when adult males are present. Young remain with
their mothers until they reach sexual maturity. Females first reproduce at four to
eight years of age and breed every two to four years thereafter. Males mature at
about the same age as females but do not breed until a few years later. Adult polar
bears have no natural predators, though walruses and wolves can kill them.
Longevity in the wild is 25 to 30 years, but in captivity several polar bears have lived
to more than 35 years old.

Source : https://www.britannica.com/animal/polar-bear