Bear Facts 12

 Polar bears have several different names.

One of those is its scientific name Ursus maritimus which literally translates to its common alternative name of maritime bear. Historically, white bear is another name used the polar bear, as well as nanook from the Inuit word nanuq.

Polar bears spend most of their time on the frozen sea.

In fact, they hunt most of their prey from the edges of sea ice, usually just scooping, clawing, or biting them out of the water. Sometimes, polar bears will just break through thinner ice to reach their prey beneath. The polar bear diet includes fish, seals, dolphins, and smaller whales.

Polar bears sometimes try to hunt walruses.

However, they rarely succeed. Adult walruses are bigger and stronger, with nearly twice a polar bear’s weight at an average of 1000 kg. Their thick skin is also very resistant to a polar bear’s teeth and claws, while a walrus’ tusks go up to 1 meter in length.

Even when they succeed, it’s usually only because a polar bear attacked a younger or injured walrus.

Adult polar bears usually leave leftovers.

Polar bears usually only eat the skin and fatty layer of a seal’s body, leaving the rest to scavengers. These leftovers may then serve younger polar bears and cubs.

Polar bears like to keep clean.

After killing and eating, polar bears wash themselves with water or snow. However, no one has figured ot the exact reason behind this behavior. How’s that for neat bear facts?

Polar bears only live in the Arctic.

However, scientists have confirmed that polar bears have crossed the whole Arctic to travel from one continent to another. These countries include Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the USA. At present, around 20,000 to 31,000 polar bears live between those countries.

Polar bears sometimes migrate.

The furthest polar bears have been confirmed to reach south is Newfoundland in Canada, but evidence suggests that they might have reached Kuril near Japan.