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. 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.
Endangered Polar Bear Links
