Polar bear
hideUrsus eogroenlandicus Ursus groenlandicus Ursus jenaensis Ursus labradorensis Ursus marinus Ursus polaris Ursus spitzbergensis Ursus ungavensis Thalarctos maritimus
The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a bear native to the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas. It is the world's largest carnivore species found on land. It's also the largest bear, together with the omnivore Kodiak bear which is approximately the same size. An adult male weighs around 400–680 kg (880–1,500 lb), while an adult female is about half that size. Although it is closely related to the brown bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrow ecological niche, with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice, and open water, and for hunting the seals which make up most of its diet. Although most polar bears are born on land, it spends most of its time at sea, hence its name meaning "maritime bear", and can hunt consistently only from sea ice, spending much of the year on the frozen sea.
The polar bear is classified as a vulnerable species, with 5 of the 19 polar bear subpopulations in decline. For decades, unrestricted hunting raised international concern for the future of the species; populations have rebounded after controls and quotas began to take effect. For thousands of years, the polar bear has been a key figure in the material, spiritual, and cultural life of Arctic indigenous peoples, and the hunting of polar bears remains important in their cultures.
The IUCN now lists global warming as the most significant threat to the polar bear, primarily because the melting of its sea ice habitat reduces its ability to find sufficient food. The IUCN states, "If climatic trends continue polar bears may become extirpated from most of their range within 100 years." On May 14, 2008, the United States Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
For more information about Polar bear, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with polar bear
Canada, Greenland accord to protect polar bears
Oct 31, 2009 |
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Canada and Greenland agreed on a series of measures aimed at protecting shared populations of polar bears which roam between the Nunavut territory and the huge arctic island, officials said.
Feds designate polar bear habitat in Alaska
Oct 22, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The Obama administration said Thursday it is designating more than 200,000 square miles in Alaska and off its coast as "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could add restrictions to ...
Global warming impacting Greenlanders' daily lives
Jul 09, 2009 |
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From his trawler that motors along the Nuuk fjord, fisherman Johannes Heilmann has watched helplessly in recent years as climate change takes its toll on Greenland.
When hosts go extinct, what happens to their parasites?
Jun 01, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Hands wring and teeth gnash over the loss of endangered species like the panda or the polar bear. But what happens to the parasites hosted by endangered species? And although most people would ...
Obama won't fight global warming with bear rules
May 08, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The Obama administration, which promised a sharp break from the Bush White House on global warming, declared Friday it would stick with a Bush-era policy against expanding protection for climate-threatened ...
Gov't faces weekend deadline on polar bear rule
May 08, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A decision involving the iconic polar bear could determine whether protecting endangered species might also help save the earth from global warming.
Salazar reviews 'midnight' endangered species rule
Apr 19, 2009 |
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(AP) -- U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he will make a decision in the coming weeks on whether to overturn a controversial Bush administration regulation that limits the reach of the Endangered Species ...
Prehistoric bears also ate everything and anything
Apr 09, 2009 |
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By comparing the craniodental morphology of modern bear species to that of two extinct species, researchers from the University of Málaga, Spain, have discovered that the expired plantigrades were not so different ...
