Rare facts about polar bears. Curious facts about polar bears

Undoubtedly, polar bears are one of the most amazing animals that have ever roamed our planet. The mere fact that these magnificent creatures manage to survive in extreme climatic conditions, they are already worthy of admiration. Polar bears are formidable predators, but can be irresistibly cute, show remarkable quick wit and surprise again and again. We suggest reading Interesting Facts about polar bears for children and adults to see these extraordinary animals in a new light!

natural born sailors

Interesting facts about polar bears tell us that although these animals are born on land, they spend a considerable part of their time traveling at sea. No wonder their scientific name sounds like Ursus maritimus and means "sea bear". These mighty animals are excellent swimmers, capable of covering distances of more than 100 km in water and swimming for longer than a day. In this they are helped by large paws (up to 30 cm wide), with which they work like oars.

Polar bears can swim at a speed of 10 km / h, which is almost twice as fast as the known champions of the competition. Even Olympic champions show results in 6 km/h. However, this is still not enough to catch a seal in open waters. Therefore, the bear prefers to lie in wait for prey on a hard surface, where it has an advantage in speed and agility.

On land, the polar bear prefers to move with a leisurely gait at a speed of about 5 km / h. But this predator cannot be called slow: when it wants, it can accelerate up to 40 km/h.

But this is not all interesting facts from the life of polar bears. Move on.

Rare, but apt

With luck, polar bears usually catch prey every four to five days. If fortune turns against a predator, its subcutaneous fat acts as a backup energy storage system. The icy expanses of the Arctic cannot be called rich hunting grounds. But a subtle scent helps the bear to find a victim. The animal can smell a seal that crawled out onto the ice 20-30 km away.

Like ten people

Want to learn more interesting facts about the polar bear? This polar animal is the largest land predator on our planet. It doesn't even have natural enemies. And no wonder: an adult male, armed with sharp fangs and claws, usually weighs from 351 to 544 kg, which corresponds to the weight of 5-7 people.

But there are also real giants. The largest polar bear ever recorded, living in northwest Alaska in 1960, weighed about 1000 kg!

Males reach their maximum size at 8 to 14 years of age, while females reach their maximum size at 5 to 6 years of age. The latter weigh half as much as their gentlemen - up to 290 kg.

Pregnancy for later

A surprising biological process known as delayed implantation ensures that polar bears have cubs at the most favorable time of the year, when their chances of survival are greatest. The mating season for these animals lasts from April to May, but the development of embryos is inhibited by early stage and continues only by autumn, when the female will gain enough weight and will be ready for the arrangement of the winter den.

But the interesting facts about the polar bear did not end there.

Kitten size

Polar bears almost never hibernate like their brown relatives. The only exceptions are pregnant females, who are forced to build dens and spend time in them until February-March. After all, their cubs, like those of other bears, are born very small and helpless, and they have to be protected from the harsh conditions of the Arctic. It is curious that at birth the largest land predators on the planet have a body length of about 30 cm and weigh only half a kilo, almost like a guinea pig.

Bears usually give birth to a couple of cubs. However, it happens when there is only one baby or there are three of them.

Until the offspring gets stronger, the female bear remains in the den in a state of hibernation: she does not eat or drink anything. The cubs then stay with their mother for about two years, during which they learn the skills necessary to successfully survive in the harsh Arctic.

Close relatives

Over time, more and more interesting facts about the polar bear in the Arctic are being discovered. For example, in 2006, an unusual animal was discovered on the territory of this region, which turned out to be only half a polar bear.

Geneticists claim that the polar bear had to stand apart as a species hundreds of thousands of years ago. This is shown by relevant studies. But, despite this, it turned out that polar bears are able to have joint offspring with. Moreover, this offspring will be fertile, unlike other offspring of interspecific crossing (for example, mules). Such hybrids appear both in the wild and in captivity, but very rarely.

The first such animal that was born in the wild was discovered in 2006. However, by that time, scientists had already had the opportunity to observe an animal similar to it in captivity, at the zoo in Osnabrück in Germany, where the polar and brown bears lived in the same enclosure. As of 2010, 17 hybrid bears were already known. And in 2012, there were five reports of observations of such hybrids in the wild.

Black polar bears

Polar bears look white, but as the saying goes, looks can be deceiving. The bear's coat (the so-called guard hair) and its undercoat are actually almost transparent. But the fact is that inside each guard hair there is a cavity filled with air. Due to such a complex structure, light waves of any length are well reflected from the hairs. As a result, the polar bear looks white.

However, depending on the time of year and the position of the sun, the animals may appear yellowish or even brown. Sometimes, in unusually warm climates, bears even turn green thanks to algae that settles in their fur.

However, if you shave off his hair from a bear, an amazing sight will open: in fact, the polar bear has black skin. It effectively absorbs solar heat, helping the animal to maintain a stable body temperature even in severe arctic cold. Now, the next time you see a polar bear's black nose, remember the interesting facts about the polar bear: in fact, this is its true color.

Polar bear- amazing, snow-white giants that inhabit the coldest regions of the planet. But in order to expand your knowledge about these amazing animals, interesting facts are presented at your discretion.

For all that they are born and live on land, they spend a lot of their lives at sea - from this feature their scientific name Ursus Maritimus translates as sea bear.

The polar bear originates from the brown bear, having evolved and developed over 5,000 years. And for all that they are separate species - polar, polar bear can interbreed with brown and produce hybrids capable of breeding. Such a phenomenon is very rare both for the wild and for captivity.

The most characteristic, distinctive feature of which is pure white fur - is not quite what it seems. In reality, the hair follicle is a transparent, hollow tube and due to this, their fur can reflect the light surrounding the animal. At the same time, throughout the life of the animal, the fur may turn yellow, or vice versa - acquire a greenish tint. So the yellow wool becomes from age and dirt, and the greenish tint of the wool acquires from the seaweed breeding in the bear's fur, in an unnaturally warm and humid environment for it. Another feature that is associated with the color of the bear is that its skin is black in color, which helps to keep warm.


The tongue of the animal is also covered age spots- this is due to the fact that an excessive amount of blood enters it and it becomes blue-black in color. Almost the same color of the tongue is also found in dogs of the Chow Chow breed.

Due to the fact that people practically do not live in the Arctic, and therefore the polar bear retains the largest range of its natural habitat among all predators. But even with all this, it is considered an endangered species - its numbers vary throughout the planet. from 20,000 to 25,000.


The male weighs on average about 700 kg., and the length of his body reaches 3 meters, and therefore he is the largest of all predators on earth today. But the heavyweight among white bears is a male weighing 1002 kilos, who was shot in the 60th year of the last century in Alaska.

The polar bear is an excellent swimmer and can swim for several days at an average speed of 10 km. in hour. At the same time, the speed of a bear on land is 5.6 km / h, and if necessary, in running, it can reach speeds up to 40., And if necessary, they can also jump, and quite high up and in length.


Despite the fact that the polar bear is a fairly large predator, its cubs are born even smaller than children in humans and reach about 500-700 grams in weight. But the cubs are growing rapidly, gaining weight and, according to their age, they are very quick-witted and nimble.


In the process of hunting for seals, which are the main prey for the bear, the bear uses a lot of tricks and tricks in the process of hunting. As noted by the locals of the North, they even cover their black nose with their paws, so as not to betray themselves, hiding in the white snow in an ambush. Also, in the process of hunting, the bear uses its sharp sense of smell, lying in ambush for several hours near the hole through which the seal emerges to breathe, and then the bear attacks.

Polar bears are incredibly clean. So after dinner, they always put themselves in order, spending up to an hour on it, cleaning their hair from food debris and dirt.

Some more interesting and unusual facts

1. Polar bears are the only one of all its relatives that does not hibernate for the winter, being awake and remaining active and mobile throughout the year. Many scientists determine their activity by the conditions of their habitat, evolution, when the bear adapts to certain living conditions. So when temperatures drop to critical levels, the only thing that can happen in the body of a bear is a slowdown in metabolic processes.
2. Due to its exceptional, or rather unusual, biological structure, the animal itself is very warm-blooded, which helps it survive in the conditions of the North. The temperature regime of their body never drops below the temperature of 31 degrees and sometimes the bear even avoids running around once again so as not to overheat.
3. Many scientists believe that bears are intellectually on the same level as monkeys. It is due to their sharp mind that they can boast of ingenuity and a variety of hunting methods, change their own behavior, taking into account the environment.
4. If the bear fails to find food for 7-8 days, the animal's body begins to burn its own fat reserves until it can catch its prey and eat to its heart's content, replenishing body and fat reserves.
5. As many environmentalists and scientists note, due to the fact that glaciers are actively melting, the population of the polar bear by 2050 may be reduced by 2/3 of their current number.
6. Despite the fact that bears practice many different hunting methods, only 2% of all attempts are successful for them.
7. Foxes that inhabit the Arctic are potential prey and food for the polar bear, but in Canada, historians have been able to record a case of a long and strong friendship between these two seemingly different animals.
8. Many zoologists note that a polar bear can be subject to outbursts of anger - there are many facts recorded in history when this huge, white giant scattered huge blocks of ice around him and growled thunderously, expressing his emotions. In particular, this happens after an unsuccessful attempt to hunt.
9. Only a female digs a lair in the North, producing her offspring - they do not hibernate, but at the same time they try to give birth in a protected shelter.

White bears (
The ancient Romans were very fond of sports associated with bloodshed. Although gladiator fights are the most famous of the ancient Roman entertainments, crowds also enjoyed watching animals die. During these bloody performances (venationes), the hunter (venatores) usually went up against a whole range of deadly animals. However, to make these performances more exciting, the Romans also put animals into the arena against other animals in a real-life version of Animal Face-Off. Lions fought tigers, bears fought bulls, and the excitement was pumped up even more with the participation of endless crocodiles, pythons, hippos and greyhounds.

However, not all couples in the arena were fair fights. According to records left by the Roman poet Calpurnius Siculus, the Romans filled the amphitheater with water and then released seals into it. Then they released polar bears into the water. The result was a one-sided, literal bloodbath, after which the bears could probably ask, "Are you bored?"

10. Polar bears aren't actually white.


Polar bears certainly look white, but as the old saying goes, looks can be deceiving. The outer coat hairs of polar bears (also known as guard hairs) are actually transparent and their undercoat is also colorless. So why do polar bears look white? This is because they have a pocket of air inside each guard hair. When sunlight falls on the guard hairs of a bear, all wavelengths of light are reflected from these air pockets, giving polar bears a white color. But even this classic look can change. Depending on the time of year and the position of the sun, polar bears can appear yellow or even brown. Sometimes those polar bears that live in captivity can even turn from white to green due to algae growing in their guard hairs (but on cans of soft drinks, green bears would not look as good as whites).
However, if you shave off all the fur (which we definitely don't recommend), you will reveal the true color of polar bears. Beneath the shaggy, colorless fur coat, the skin of polar bears is actually black. This black skin absorbs heat from the sun and keeps bears warm in arctic climates. So the next time you see a polar bear's nose, remember that this is its true color.

9. Polar bears can swim for a whole week without stopping.


Polar bears have truly amazing swimming skills that would put Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte to shame. Their huge webbed feet are ideal for cutting ocean waves at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour. Now compare this result with the pathetic Olympic swimmers, who, at best, swim only at a speed of 7 kilometers per hour. It doesn't matter how many gold medals you have, when you can still be a polar bear's breakfast.

In addition to being able to develop high swimming speeds, they can actually swim 100 kilometers on average without stopping. And although some polar bears have been seen as far as 321 kilometers from shore, the record for long-distance swimming was broken in 2011. Due to the melting of ice floes, which are a natural bear hunting area, a polar bear with a bear cub set sail across the Beaufort Sea in search of a new home. The she-bear swam 680 kilometers in nine days, which is the equivalent of walking from Washington DC to Boston. Unfortunately, her teddy bear died en route, and when she finally reached land, she lost 22 percent of her body weight. It was an impressive feat and a testament to the coolness of polar bears, but it is also a reminder of the hardships these miraculous animals face when they lose their habitat.

8 Polar bears resort to cannibalism


Polar bears are not picky eaters, but given a choice between seal and pretty much everything else, they will definitely choose seal. However, for last years, due to the intensity of climate change, the Arctic menu has been significantly reduced. More and more are melting sea ​​ice, gradually taking away from polar bears their natural habitat and rich hunting grounds. Catching seals is becoming more and more difficult, so the bears began to look for other sources of food, including bird nests, but a couple of eggs will not satisfy the hunger of these giants. Therefore, the bears had to resort to a much more terrible option for obtaining food - cannibalism.

Bear hunting for bears is not new. There were always a few furry Jeffrey Dahmers roaming the ice, and polar bears sometimes eat their cubs if they are sick. However, in recent years experts studying polar bears have noticed an increase in cannibalism, especially among bears that are trapped on land. In 2009, eight male bears were devouring cubs off the Canadian province of Manitoba, and in July 2010, photographer Jenny Ross managed to capture some horrific shots of an adult polar bear killing a younger one. As the ice continues to melt, more and more polar bears may be forced to eat their counterparts with or without beans.

7 Polar bears remain invisible to infrared cameras


In addition to being powerful hunters, polar bears also have the magical power to remain invisible, at least when it comes to watching them with infrared cameras. Scientists discovered this amazing phenomenon during a flight over the Arctic, organized to check the size of the bear population. At first, the scientists hardly managed to notice the bears, as they merged with their snow-white habitat. Thinking that they had found a great way to track polar bears, the scientists decided to use infrared cameras, but to their surprise, they saw that the polar bears had completely disappeared. Only their noses, eyes and breath were reflected on the camera.

The scientists decided that the covering fat and fur of polar bears camouflaged them from infrared cameras, hiding their thermal fingerprints. However, a Berkeley graduate student named Jessica Preciado decided to dig a little deeper. Using advanced technologies At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Preciado was able to unravel the mystery of the invisibility of polar bears. Infrared cameras not only detect surface temperature, but they also detect radiation emitted from the objects they are monitoring. According to Preciado's research, the radio-emitting properties of polar bears' fur are similar to those of snow, allowing the bears to remain invisible in infrared light. This skill could come in very handy if the Predator ever lands in the Arctic.

6. There are hybrids of polar bears with grizzly bears.


In 2006, an American hunter went to the Arctic to hunt for a polar bear. He seems to have succeeded. The hunter noticed that the bear he had killed looked a little strange, and after DNA analysis, scientists found out that this creature was half polar bear, half grizzly bear.

This was the first time that a polar bear/grizzly bear hybrid had been found in the wild. However, scientists have already seen a similar Frankenstein creature at Germany's Osnabruck Zoo, where a polar bear and a grizzly bear lived in the same enclosure and became more than good friends. As of 2010, 17 hybrids of a polar bear and a grizzly bear have been registered, most of which live in Osnabrück. Therefore, scientists have suggested that in the wild, these two species can also mate. But, in 2010, the scientific community was shocked when a hunter shot what turned out to be the offspring of a grizzly bear and a hybrid of a polar bear and a grizzly bear. It turned out that, unlike other creatures that are the offspring of interspecific crossing (for example, mules), hybrids of a polar bear and a grizzly bear can have offspring.

These impressive hybrid bears have been called grolars, polar grizzlies, or nanulaks, from the Inuit "Nanuk" (polar bear) and "Aklak" (grizzly bear). The scientists suggest that it is likely that their parents were able to meet and mate because of construction and mining in Canada, which led to the fact that the grizzlies moved further north, and the effects of climate change, which led to the melting of the Arctic ice, forced the whites bears go south in search of food. Polar grizzlies have characteristics of both mothers and fathers. Polar grizzly bears have elongated necks and prominent polar bear tails, but their heads, shoulders, and paws are more grizzly-like, and their fur resembles an odd combination of the two bear species. However, polar grizzlies experience some discomfort in the wild because they cannot swim as well as polar bears and their grizzly bear paws are not adapted to walking on ice. However, five polar bears were recorded in the wild in 2012, so it's possible that polar grizzlies will one day become a permanent part of the North American ecosystem.

5. Eskimos deeply respect polar bears.


While many people find polar bears cute and funny, the Eskimos are much more respectful towards them. They regard Nanuk, the polar bear, as a mysterious, almost human-like creature that deserves to be treated with respect even in death. After a successful hunt, the Eskimo hunter will certainly honor the honor of the polar bear by hanging his skin in his house for several days. Next to the skin, the hunter also hangs various tools, in the form of an offering to the spirit of the bear. For male bears, Eskimo hunters offer knives and tools for making fire through friction, for female bears, offerings such as skinning tools and sets of needles. It is believed that the polar bear will need the souls of these tools in the afterlife, and if the hunter treated the bear with respect, Nanook would tell the other bears about the hunter's kindness. Then other bears will give their lives to the hunter in exchange for tools. Everyone wins in this ritual.

However, if the Eskimo hunter mistreated Nanuk's soul, he would never be able to kill another polar bear. The same applies to the hunter's wife. If she disrespects a polar bear, her husband will never become a great hunter. This was especially problematic for women if their husbands were dying. There was a very high chance that the widows remained single, since not a single Eskimo hunter wanted to marry a woman cursed by Nanook.

4. Polar bear watching is a real job.


Are you tired of your work from nine in the morning until five in the evening? Then you should look at the online government job board with job offers in Svalbard. They offer some pretty interesting jobs, such as a job as a polar bear watcher.

Only about 2,400 people live on the Svalbard archipelago, which is very small when you realize that there are about 3,000 polar bears living there and their number is growing. What is unique about the polar bears in Svalbard is that their population is constantly growing, while in the rest of the world their population is greatly declining. This is great news for bears, but also a bit of a problem for scientists working in the wild. So the Svalbard government has recently started looking for people to be polar bear watchers to be able to keep them at the human borders. According to the job description, candidates must be familiar with wildlife, be proficient in the use of firearms, and have a very resonant and loud voice. The observer's main task will be to scare the bears away by yelling at them, firing a flare gun, or banging pots or pans. Shooting bears is a last resort and should only be resorted to if absolutely nothing else has worked.

If this job sounds like something you would like to do, we hasten to upset you, people have already found people for it. However, you can check their website from time to time. The spot could become vacant at any moment because polar bear watching is not the safest job. Moreover, it is impossible to say with certainty when the former observer may lose his job/life.

3. Polar bears were very popular during the Middle Ages.


When we think of the Middle Ages, we think of the Crusades, the Black Death, and knights saying "Ni". We don't usually associate the Middle Ages with arctic animals, and yet everyone from peasants to princes thought polar bears were incredibly cool.

Take the Vikings for example. They believed that the polar bear was as strong as 12 men and as smart as 11 men combined. Viking poets described them using a few funny names such as "seal storm", "iceberg rider" and "whale death". In Norse mythology, the gods Heimdallr and Loki took the form of polar bears when they fought each other. Even the King of the North, Harold the Fair-haired, had a pet she-bear with cubs. They were a gift from an Icelandic hunter, to whom, in exchange for bears, he gave a whole ship loaded with timber.

The British also admired polar bears. In the 1200s, Henry III amassed an impressive collection of exotic animals. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire sent Henry III three lions as a wedding present, and King Louis IX gave him a male African elephant. Due to the fact that there was not much room for cannibals and thick-skinned giants in the king's palace, Henry III decided to place his animals in the famous Tower of London, which became the first London zoo.

One of the most unusual animals of Henry III was a polar bear, presented to him by King Haakon of Norway. Henry III received not only a bear, but also a Norwegian animal overseer. The sheriffs of London had to pay for his food, but the bear had too voracious appetite. The sheriffs could not collect enough taxes to pay for his food, so Henry III ordered his overseer to make a muzzle and an iron chain. The overseer then took him to the Thames, where the polar bear could swim and fish. Unlike the prisoners who were kept in the Tower of London, the polar bear was not so bad there.

2. Polar bears are sometimes sent to a special prison.


By a strange coincidence, the city of Churchill (Churchill), the Canadian province of Manitoba, was honored to be the world capital of polar bears. Every spring and summer, the icy bay near Churchill melts, leaving polar bears without their main hunting grounds. Approximately 1000 hungry bears, who do not have the opportunity to catch seals, approach the town in search of food. And these bears are not picky at all. They can eat anything from garbage to dogs.

Despite the danger, the people of the town of Churchill were able to adapt to the annual invasion of bears. For example, people traditionally leave their homes unlocked in case a polar bear is chasing someone and needs somewhere to hide. In order to prevent bears from entering the house and not being able to follow the smell coming from the fact that something is being prepared in someone's kitchen, the doors of the houses are equipped with special "welcome rugs" made of plywood studded with nails. Curious bears quickly understand what's what. During Halloween, armed adults accompany children from house to house, and no one is allowed to dress up as a ghost to avoid being mistaken for a polar bear. The city even has a dedicated polar bear hotline (675-BEAR, in case you need a number). If you call this number, a conservation team armed with firecrackers and rubber bullets (and real ones if necessary) will come to drive the intruders out of town.

However, if a polar bear doesn't take the hint and keeps coming back to town, it can spend several months in a polar bear prison. Repeat offenders are injected with sleeping pills and transported to a prison that was once an aircraft hangar. When the bear wakes up, he finds himself in one of the 28 cages, in which he has about two meters to move. The Polar Bear Prison is a pretty cruel place. The bears are not fed at all and only snow is given to them to drink. The idea is to make their stay in Churchill very unpleasant so that they never want to come back. It may sound cruel, but it's the best alternative to killing bears (or killing people with bears). When the bay refreezes during the colder months, the bears are released and hopefully they have learned a valuable lesson about Manitoba's fairness.

1 Polar Bear Liver Can Kill You


Just as the Plains Indians butchered buffaloes, the Eskimos used every part of polar bears... except for the liver. This is not because polar bear liver tastes bad, but because eating it can kill a person. In 1596, a group of European explorers experienced this the hard way. After a delicious polar bear dinner, the researchers fell ill with a terrifying disease. The man became drowsy and irritable. Their vision blurred, their heads and bones began to ache, and they began to vomit non-stop. Finally, as in a scene from an Eli Roth horror movie, their skin began to peel off. Some men have been lucky enough to have only a little bit of the skin around their mouths come off. But some of them are very unlucky. They peeled off the skin from the whole body, from head to toe. In the end, they fell into a coma and died, all because they chose the wrong food. They ate internal organs polar bear, including liver.

Polar bear liver is so dangerous because it is loaded with vitamin A. In small amounts, vitamin A improves certain body functions. Promotes growth, reproductive health and improves eyesight, but its excess causes human body go into shock. An adult can only process 10,000 IU of vitamin A, and if you eat only 500 grams of polar bear liver, you will shock your body with 9,000,000 IU of vitamin A. In addition to your skin starting to peel, your hair will fall out and your spleen and liver will swell to an unimaginable size. Therefore, the next time someone offers you to taste the liver of a polar bear, it is better to opt for fondue.

The polar bear is one of the largest predators on the planet and a real mystery of nature. We will tell you when he appeared, why he is white, and why he is considered a marine mammal.

origin mystery

The origin of polar bears is still a mystery to scientists. It was previously believed that polar bears separated from brown ones about 45 thousand years ago, somewhere on the shores of Ireland. The proximity of the species was confirmed, including the possibility of the appearance of fertile offspring as a result of crossing, which rarely happens if the parents are “distant relatives”. In 2011, scientists, based on genetic studies, pushed back the date of the appearance of the polar bear by a hundred thousand years ago. Then zoologists, led by Frank Heiler, reported that the ancestor of polar bears was a certain brown bear who lived about 150 thousand years ago in the late Pleistocene. Moreover, according to the results of the study, the species formed quite quickly, which was explained by another cold snap and the need to survive in arctic conditions. But a year later, a group of researchers from the German Research Center for Biodiversity and Climate (BiK-F) refuted all previous versions. After analyzing the nuclear DNA of 45 not only polar bears, but also brown and black bears (baribals), they found that brown and polar bears once separated from a common ancestor Ursus etruscus. So, the polar bear is not a “modification” of the brown one, but its sibling. According to this theory, the polar bear appeared 600 thousand years ago, which means it emerged victorious from several ice and inter-ice periods. True, this version also has many opponents, and the question of the origin of polar bears is still open.

Hibernation is not a habit

Polar bears, unlike their brown counterparts, do not hibernate. In winter they sleep more than in summer, but still it is not hibernation. During the latter, the vital activity of the body practically stops: the heart beats weakly, the body temperature decreases. In polar bears, breathing and temperature remain normal, no matter how long he sleeps. In good weather, they often leave the den to hunt seals on the ice, an inaccessible prey in warm seasons. The situation is different with pregnant females. The polar bear cubs that appear in the middle of winter are no bigger than humans at birth and will not survive the Arctic winter. Therefore, the female lies in the den when the ice melts and it becomes difficult to hunt. Bear cubs are usually born in November-January, and remain in the den until February-March. Males and single females go into hibernation for a short time and not every year.

Bear Prison

The main enemy of the polar bear is man. But even for our “kind”, a meeting with the largest mammalian predator on earth often ends in tragedy. In recent decades, polar bears have become frequent visitors to cities beyond the Arctic Circle. They are attracted to "easy prey" - garbage, pets. So, in the vicinity of the Canadian city of Churchill, up to 1000 individuals can roam in the summer. Previously, animals were shot, today the death penalty was replaced by imprisonment - a prison was built on the site of a former military base for violators of the order. The term of imprisonment usually ranges from two to 30 days, however, in the case of repeated catching of the same bear, the term is increased. The prison diet is quite strict - the animals are given only water. The essence of the method is to develop a sense of fear in animals when approaching the city. The “criminals” are released closer to winter, when ice appears on the waters of Hudson Bay, and with it, hunting is simplified.

marine mammals
The scientific name of the polar bear is Ursus maritimus, which means "sea bear". Polar bears are excellent swimmers, they can swim hundreds of kilometers without stopping at an average speed of 10 km / h, which is much faster than their slow and measured step on land. The polar bear's record swim was recorded in 2011, when a polar bear covered 687 kilometers in search of food in 9 days without stopping. These animals spend so much time in the water that in some classifications they are classified as marine mammals, along with whales, seals and otters.

White color- salvation from the cold

Studying the life of polar bears, one involuntarily sympathizes with them - how can one live in such conditions, where the temperature can drop to -70 degrees. However, polar bears themselves usually have problems not with freezing, but with overheating. Especially while running. And it's all because of physiological features bear responsible for keeping warm. One of the main secrets of polar clubfoot is white color. It's all about one of the main methods of heat transfer - infrared radiation, which is scattered between numerous layers of fluff or fur. light colors and slow down the cooling. According to the researchers, such blocking of thermal transfer, which was formed in the process of evolution in the inhabitants of the polar regions, provides effective thermal insulation. That is why polar bears are white - so warmer.

At risk

Polar bears are now an endangered species. And it's not even about poachers, but about climate change. According to Canadian biologist Ian Sterling, "The ice drift in Hudson Bay begins about two weeks earlier than it did twenty years ago." This deprives bears of the opportunity to gain the necessary fat reserves before the warm months, when all hunting comes to naught. The main prey of polar bears is seals and their cubs, which they usually get from under the ice, when the victim swims up to the hole, to "sip" oxygen. In open water, clubfoot has no chance. Therefore, along with warming and melting of glaciers, the population of polar bears also decreases. Since 1980, the birth rate and average weight of these animals have declined by about ten percent, according to researchers. In search of food, they have to overcome ever greater and greater distances. For example, the above-mentioned nine-day record swim of a she-bear, 687 kilometers long, was caused precisely by the need to find food for her and her one-year-old cub. The last such exhausting voyage was beyond their strength. According to preliminary forecasts, if the ice cover continues to shrink at the same rate, by the end of the century, polar bears will repeat the fate of their extinct relatives.

Guzel Abdullina
Summary of the lesson on ecology "What do we know about the polar bear" (senior group)

Prepared: caregiver senior group MBDOU No. 22 Abdullina Guzel Inkarovna, Leninogorsk, RT.

Target:

Give children knowledge about polar bear: appearance, lifestyle, habits and methods of hunting in winter and summer.

To form ideas about the way of life of animals at the North Pole, about adaptation to the environment.

Develop the ability to search.

Continue to introduce children to whites bears ability to adapt to the environment.

Activate speech through games and exercises.

To form an interested, caring attitude towards whites bears.

vocabulary work: vocabulary enrichment words: "Arctic", "predator"; activation dictionary: "booty", "wool","paws", "den", "seal", "seal".

preliminary work:

Reading and looking at illustrations about whites bears in a wildlife magazine; watching a cartoon "Umka"; listening to audio recordings "Lullaby bears» (from the cartoon "Umka"): examining paintings depicting white bears; white stencil drawing bears.

Materials for lessons: multimedia; the globe; animal illustrations (brown and white bears) ; notebook; a pen; the envelope.

Lesson progress:

(Children play in the play corners, knock on the door. The teacher goes to faith and brings an envelope in his hands.)

Guys, look here, we received a letter, let's look in the envelope, what's inside.

(takes out a letter and a card with a riddle)

They sent us a letter, but in order to find out from whom it is, we must guess riddle:

Sailing on the blue sea

On a huge ice

Strong, predatory beast

in a fur coat snow-white.

Who do you think it is? (children's answers)

Well done, right. Well, let's read the letter. (opens letter)

"Hello children! White writes to you bear. I want to tell you about myself, about whites bears. In the north, in the Arctic, where there is only snow and ice, we live, white the Bears. Our habits are similar to the habits of brown bears: we winter in a lair of ice and snow, we love to swim and fish. Bear at first she feeds our babies with milk, and when they grow up she feeds them with fish and seal meat.

We are adapted to life in difficult conditions: we have thick, warm wool, including on the soles of our paws - it saves us from frost, the white camouflage color of the wool makes us invisible in the snow, we can dive and swim well, hide, quietly sneak up on prey, we have strong paws with sharp claws, claws help us quickly and deftly catch fish in the water, and we have strong teeth. I want to add, we whites the Bears are included in the Red Book.

We would like to make friends with you, we are waiting for a response letter from you. Sincerely, white bear.»

Here is the letter we received. Let's find the Arctic on the globe. Where is he located - let's eat.

(search together and find)

This is where the Arctic is! In the Arctic, there is snow and ice all around, so it is marked in white on the globe.

Now let's look at the illustrations. bears: white and brown. See how they are similar and how they differ. (children's answers)

Where does he live? (children's answers)

What saves him from the cold? (children's answers)

Can he swim? (children's answers)

How does he get his food? (children's answers)

What helps him hunt? (children's answers)

What feeds bear cub? (children's answers)

Yes, that's right, she feeds the baby with milk, then when she grows up with fish and seal meat. The meat of the seal is called tyulenina. Bears hunt them too.

Now let's play a game « bear cubs»

bear cubs in more often lived they run and turn their heads

They turned their heads.

Like this (2 times) They turned their heads.

Bear cubs looking for honey. Perform movements for

The tutor shook the tree together. (Looking for honey and

Like this (2 times)- They shook the tree together. trees sway.)

Bear cubs drinking water(Imitation movements)

Friend after friend went. drink some water and follow each other

Like this (2 times)- friend.

Everyone followed each other.

The cubs were dancing(Imitation movements)

The paws were lifted up, stamped in place and

Like this (2 times)- Raise the paws up. raise their hands up.

Well done, well played!

And now, let's write a letter back to the whites bears.

Address: Arctic, Country eternal ice and snow, a large snowdrift.

To whom: polar bear.

hello dear white bear!

We have received your letter. Thank you, thanks to you we found out who the whites are where do bears live.

Come visit us from the distant Arctic! We will treat you to delicious fish. Are looking forward to!

If you cannot come to us, then we are waiting for a letter from you.

Respect for whites bears children of the senior group kindergarten No. 22 Leninogorsk, RT.

Now, let's seal the envelope and it remains only to send the letter. In the evening we will go home, put it in the mailbox and wait for an answer.

And on classes drawing we will draw white bears with a sponge, foam rubber. We will arrange an exhibition “The Arctic, a distant land of eternal ice”.