Polar Bears Are Pretty Prodigious! Quiz

Answer: Arctic

Polar bear populations are only found in Arctic regions, including Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland and Norway. All of these countries have passed laws which protect the polar bear population; sources differ regarding numbers, but it is estimated that today there are 20,000-30,000 that live in the wild.

Answer: Ice

The sea ice that is typically inhabited by polar bears is called the "Arctic ring of life". They especially live in areas where the ice meets the water, because that gives them their best chance of finding food. Polar bears do dig caves in large snow drifts, especially when the mother bear, called a sow, is about to give birth to babies, which are called cubs!

Answer: False

The polar bear typically uses the ice as a platform from which to hunt seals. He will quietly wait at the breathing hole of a seal until the seal comes up to the surface, then snag the seal's head. While it is possible to find a seal when swimming or on land, it is not the polar bear's preferred method of hunting and is said to happen very rarely.

Answer: They build up their blubber reserve.

Believe it or not, a polar bear's fur is not white! Each hair is a clear hollow tube, that looks white because it reflects light. Underneath the fur, the skin is actually black, which allows the bear to soak up heat and stay warm. What really helps him stay warm, however, is the 4 inches of blubber under the skin, which helps keep the heat from dissipating.

It is said that it would be difficult to find a polar bear with an infrared camera because it really doesn't give off any heat! A polar bear seems perfectly adapted to live its life in the freezing cold.

Answer: Smell

While one source stated that a polar bear has such a great sense of smell that he can smell a seal almost a mile away and buried under about three feet of snow, another claimed that he could smell a seal twenty miles away! Both his eyesight and hearing closely compares to a human's.

Answer: Yes

With a classification of "Urusa maritimus", or "maritime bear", the polar bear is considered to be a marine animal because it moves across sea ice and swims in the open water looking for food. It is, however, the only marine animal that can also live on land.

Answer: True

The largest species of bear, a male polar bear, called a boar, can weigh up to 1500 pounds! A female will typically weigh about half as much as a male. Height-wise, standing on its rear legs, the typical male is about 10 feet tall, while the average female is eight.

Answer: They are the world's largest living carnivore that lives on land.

Not only are polar bears the largest species of bear, they are the largest carnivore that lives on land. In spite of their size, they are pretty fast runners, able to sprint at a rate of 25 miles per hour, and swim at the rate of about 6 miles per hour. Solitary animals, adult polar bears have been viewed playing or even sleeping together, however, only a mother and her young cubs will typically live and travel together.

In 2015 the conservation of polar bears was listed as "vulnerable".

Answer: The most frequent litter size is two.

While the most frequent polar bear litter is two cubs, there may only be one cub, or as many as three! Some mother polar bears nurse their cubs for as long as 30 months; even if the cubs stop nursing before that, they usually stay with their mother for two and a half years! She has much to teach them! While a cub may want to nurse six times a day, they do not eat solid food until they are ready to leave the den at about three or four months of age.

When they are born, the cub's fur is described as a pinkish-gray, and almost colorless.

The hair is so fine that they almost look like they are bald. They have a full coat of hair by the time they are two months old.

Answer: Humans

In the past, hunting for polar bears caused concern, but now, climate change and other environmental issues must also be addressed. Polar bears are apex predators, at the top of the food chain, however, humans have damaged their environment in many ways. The mining of coal and oil in Arctic areas has created new dangers for polar bears. Oil spills are life-threatening to bears because if the oil gets on a bear's coat, as it prevents them from regulating their body temperature correctly; if the bear would ingest some of the oil while grooming, it could die.