Fact of Polar Bears

With the recent new of global warning, and the statements that the polar bear is the first animal to become endangered because of global warming many people are wondering how many polar bears are there? That is a question that the answer is still being researched.

How many polar bears are there?

No one really knows how many polar bears there are because they are hard to count, and at times hard to find. Researches estimate that there are between 22 000 and 40 000 polar bears in the world. Close to half of the polar bear population lives in Canada.

Where else to polar bears live?
With majority of the polar bear population living in northern Canada, then where does the rest of the population of polar bears live? Most polar bears inhabit the Arctic and around the North Pole (not including polar bears that are captive). The countries that encompass the Arctic include Canada, Russia, Norway, Denmark (Greenland) and Alaska (United States).

Polar bears thrive in these Arctic conditions because this is where their food sources are, and their bodies are made to handle the harsh Arctic conditions, even the winter one. Polar bears spend a great deal of their time in the Arctic Ocean hunting and searching for food.

Polar Bears are found throughout the arctic region, often covering hundreds of miles in their range. They have heavy white fur which camouflage them against the white landscape in which they live in.

In the winter months they walk on the ice and look for seals and in the summer months they wait on the shore for them. Polar bears know how to use the climate and the land conditions to their benefit when hunting for seals. They will walk on an ice floe (a sheet of floating ice) and look for hole or cracks in the ice.

Since seals have to breathe at some time they wait there for a seal to come up for breath. There are also other areas of the Arctic Ocean that do not freeze, polynyas, these are also great areas for the polar bear to find its favorite food, seals.

Temperatures in the Arctic
The temperatures that the polar bears have to endure in the winter can range from -40°F (-40°C) to as cold as -90°F (-90°C). The summer months can be much warmer for the polar bears with temperatures reaching to 77°F (25°C).

Polar bears have to be able to handle 100° difference in temperature between the seasons. Polar bear habitat, polar bear description affects of global warming and climate change on the polar bear.

How they look?

Despite their size, they are extremely fast runners and wide-ranging travellers. They are also expert swimmers, with their thick layer of fur and fat insulating them against the extreme cold of their climate. They have hairy soles on their broad feet to protect them and insulate them from the cold, as well as help them move across the snow swiftly.

Their diet consists of fish, seal, caribou, birds, seaweed, grass and an occasional whale which strayed too far from its course. Polar Bears are usually shy but they are known to be dangerous when attacked or confronted. They give birth to one to four cubs at a time in the winter and the cubs stay with their mother for up to three years.Polar Bears are endangered due to the man's excessive hunting for their priceless hide, tendons, meat, fat and flesh.

Their numbers dwindled from several hundred thousands to a few hundred in a few years time. In efforts to protect Polar Bears, an international agreement was set up in 1973 whereby only traditional weapons were allowed to be used in the hunting of the Polar Bears.

This posting happen just because i really fond to bears, one of kind bears i fond is Polar Bears, as i know global warming today merely feel near. I can feel how different the weather in my country specially in Jakarta (my city). I always think how Polar Bears will do later, how they will live later and how they survive to keep their descentor. Even today, i just heard that US government had protect them because they are endangared not only because of the global warming, but also because of the hunter who haunted them year by year to take their fur. How could that happen human take fur from animal just to make clothes, shoes and bags .... Oh God ..., is really sadden.