Polar Bear

If current warming trends continue, they may disappear within 100 years

Common Name

Polar bear
Ours blanc; ours polaire (Fr);
Oso polar (Sp)

Scientific Name
Ursus maritimus

Habitat
Arctic

Location
Arctic (northern hemisphere)

Background

Majestic creature of the far north, the polar bear is the world's largest terrestrial carnivore. Its Latin name, Ursus maritimus, means "sea bear", reflecting the fact that the species spends much of its life in or around water, or actually mostly on the water as it usually found on sea ice. As the southern edge of the Arctic ice cap melts in summer, polar bears follow the retreating sea ice. Some bears are then stranded and spend their summers fasting on land, living off body fat stored from hunting in the spring and winter.

Increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels - oil, coal and gas - are causing global warming. As a result, annual sea ice in the Arctic is melting earlier in the spring and forming later in the autumn. Research funded by WWF has found that this leaves many polar bears with less time on the sea ice to hunt for food and build up their fat stores, and increased time on land where they must fast. As their icy habitat disappears, the survival of the polar bear is at risk.

Although the species is not currently endangered, its future is far from certain. If current warming trends continue unabated, scientists believe that polar bears may disappear within 100 years. WWF funds field research by the world's foremost experts on polar bears to find out how global warming will affect the long-term condition polar bear populations.

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Physical Description

Polar bears are the top predator in the arctic marine ecosystem. They evolved from brown bears during the Pleistocene, the time period that spanned from 1.8 million to 11,000 years ago.

The polar bear's coat, covering it completely except for the nose and foot pads, is superbly adapted to Arctic environments, where temperatures rarely exceed 10 °C (50 °F) in summer and typically hover around -30 °C (-22 °F) during winter.

Polar bears are excellent swimmers and can sustain a pace of 10 km/h by using their front paws like oars while their hind legs are held flat like a rudder.

They spend much of their time at or near the edge of the pack ice. This is where they are most likely to find food. As the southern edge of the arctic ice cap melts in summer, some bears will follow the retreating ice north to stay close to seals and other prey. Other bears spend their summers on land, living off body fat stored from successful hunting in the spring and winter. When the ice returns in the fall, the bears leave land to resume life on the sea ice.

Size
Adult males typically measure 200 to 250 cm (6.5 to 8 feet) from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail and weigh 400-600 kg (880-1300 lbs). Females are about half this size.

Colour
It is the reflection of light that causes the fur to appear white, or yellowish white. In fact, the fur has no white pigment.

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Habitat

Major habitat type
Arctic

Biogeographic realm
Nearctic and Palearctic

Range States
Canada (Manitoba; Newfoundland; Northwest Territories; Nunavut; Ontario; Quebec; Yukon), Greenland, Norway (Svalbard), Russian Federation (Krasnoyarsk; Magadan; North European Russia; West Siberia; Yakutiya), United States (Alaska)

Geographical Location
Arctic

Ecological Region
Alaskan North Slope Coastal Tundra, Canadian Low Arctic Tundra, Taimyr and Siberian Coastal Tundra, Chukote Coastal Tundra, Bering-Beaufort-Chukchi Seas, Barents - Kara Seas, Grand Banks, Canada

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Why is this species important?

Large carnivores are sensitive indicators of ecosystem health. Polar bears are studied to gain an understanding of what is happening throughout the Arctic as a polar bear at risk is often a sign of something wrong somewhere in the arctic marine ecosystem.

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Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

The black and white Giant panda was discovered over 100 years ago. Only now are we beginning to understand more about this secretive creature's life in the wild.

Class: Mammalia (mammal)
Order: Carnivora (meat-eating mammals)
Family: Ursidae (bears)

The Giant panda has highly developed chewing muscles and very powerful broad cheek teeth. The feet are turned inwards and have 5 toes and hairy soles. Giant pandas are about 150 cm long from nose to rump, with a 10-15cm tail. A large panda weighs about 100-150kg. Males are 10% bigger and 20% heavier than females.

The Giant panda has an enlarged wrist bone that can be folded over to work as a ‘thumb’ to grasp the bamboo shoots they love to eat. Pandas have keen eyesight.
Where are Giant Pandas found?
The Giant panda lives in cool mountain forests where bamboo grows profusely. Today it is found only in small areas of Southwest China and to the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau, at altitudes of 2,600 to 3,500m. Often the area is snow bound.

The Giant panda ambles through the bamboo forest and moves through its home range using the same paths and tunnels frequently. Sometimes, it may use man-made paths. These paths connect feeding sites with rock or tree dens and sleeping spots. Pandas rest in higher regions during the day and go down to the lower areas at night to feed.

Favourite food: bamboo shoots
Although the Giant Panda has the digestive system of a carnivore, it is actually a herbivore, with 99% of its diet consisting of bamboo. It feeds on both the shoots and the roots but whenever available, it prefers the tender leaves and stems. Its cheek teeth are so powerful that they can slice and crush stems as thick as a man's leg! The panda also eats some bulbs and tubers of other plants, grasses and small insects. A giant panda may consume 12-38 kg of bamboo a day to meet its energy requirements.

Raising a family
Giant pandas reach breeding maturity between 4 and 8 years of age. They may be reproductive until about age 20. Female pandas ovulate only once a year, in the spring. A short period of 2 to 3 days around ovulation is the only time she is able to conceive. Calls and scents draw males and females to each other.

Females bear their young in dens made in the ground. One or 2 cubs are born but normally only 1 survives. Offspring stay with their mothers from 1 to 3 years.

Panda facts

• Pink, helpless, and blind, the cub is 1/900th the size of its mother. Except for a marsupial (such as the kangaroo or opossum), a giant panda baby is the smallest mammal newborn relative to its mother's size. The cubs weigh about 85-140g at birth. Their eyes open at 6 to 7 weeks and they follow their mother when they are about 3 months old.
• Pandas live mainly on the ground but are also able to climb trees.
• Pandas do not hibernate, but often relocate to lower altitudes in the winter and spring.

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