POLAR BEARS

BY: ED

• Come in three different colors. White, creamy yellow, and in the summer their fur will turn a light brown.

• Males weigh up to 2,000 pounds.• Up to 10 feet tall.• Twice the size of females.• Polar bears have short, solid claws because

they’re good for walking in the ice and snow.• Teeth are sharp and jagged. Their canines are

long, good for tearing up meat.• These bears have very big feet because it

gives them traction on the ice and they can stay on ice bergs easier.

• They do have very small, stubby tails and ears to reduce the risk of heat loss.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

• Encompasses the entire circumpolar Arctic region.

• Polar bears have adapted to be able to live on land and in the water.

• Main habitat is on offshore pack ice along the coasts and island’s of Arctic region.

• The place they live is cold and can be a very unforgiving land.

• In the summer polar bears will remain on the ice to stay next to their food source, which is seals.

HABITAT

• Commensalism= One species benefits while the other is unaffected.

• Arctic foxes travel behind polar bears and scavenge on scraps of food that the polar bears leave behind.

SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS

• Polar bears are predators.

• They are also Omnivores. • In the summer months

the bears forge for berries and plants, the type of berries the forge for a named bearberries.

• In the winter months the bears like the warm meat such as fish and seals.

SOURCE OF ENERGY

• Female polar bears may not become pregnant the moment of copulation, instead the female polar bear may store the male sperm inside her. She does this to enable that the sperm will fertilize the egg at the ideal time.

• Polar bears can have a varied gestation period. Anywhere from 190 to 260 days.

• A female polar bear can become pregnant in April or May.

• The polar bear will then build a maternity den.

• A female polar bear will go into a hibernation type state in the fall, if she is pregnant.

• The female will have 1-3 cubs.

Reproduction

• When the family emerges, they stay close together. • Polar bear mothers will stay with her young for 2 ½ years, then they will be

set off on their own.• While together the family protects each other with everything in them. • If there are two cubs and one is in danger the other will do all they can to

help.• The mothers keep a sharp eye on her mischievous cubs, she doesn’t

wanting them getting in trouble.

Reproductive Benefits

• Global warming • Harmful chemicals being

released into the environment.• Mercury is ingested by the polar

bear through other animals.• It can simply start our as a small

fish, then as it goes through the food chain, it becomes more and more concentrated.

• By the time the polar bear eats the seal, the mercury levels could have a lethal effect on the polar bear.

THREATS

• Polar bears are the kings and queens of the north.

• They are the top of the food chain eating their favorite food, seals.

• Polar bears are a threat to every animal in the arctic area.

Polar Bear Threats To Others

• They serve as a sort of "ambassador" species for what's happening in the Arctic right now. They serve as a gauge to measure affects of climate change.

• Polar bears are what are known as an umbrella species; many organisms are connected to polar bears via a food web.

IMPORTANCE

• Female polar bears would rather build their dens in "old snow" from previous years rather than the freshly fallen snow.

• Polar bear cubs learn to freeze and remain still while their mother hunts. If they move, the mother disciples them, with a whack to the head.

• Female polar bears do not start having cubs until they are about 4 or 5 years old.

FUN FACTS

• "Polar Bear Description." Endangered Polar Bear. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2014.

• "Why Should We Care about Polar Bears?" PolarTREC. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2014.

• "Polar Bears | IFAW - International Fund for Animal Welfare." Polar Bears | IFAW - International Fund for Animal Welfare. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2014.

• Http://www.komar.org/faq/churchill_polar_bear_tours/polar-bears-standing.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 June 2014.

BIBLIOGRAPHY