Polar Bear

Polar bears are the largest bears on Earth and amazing swimmers — scientists have tracked them swimming for days without stopping. Their white fur is actually clear and hollow, and underneath it their skin is black to soak up the sun's warmth.

Polar bears live on the frozen sea ice of the Arctic, around the very top of the world. Scientists count them as marine mammals because they spend most of their lives on ice over the ocean rather than on land. A polar bear is the largest bear on Earth, and it is built for cold: a thick layer of fat under its skin, dense fur that looks white but is really clear and hollow, and black skin underneath that soaks up the sun. Its huge paws work as paddles in the water and as snowshoes on the ice.

Polar bears eat mostly seals, and seals have to come up through holes in the ice to breathe. A bear will find a breathing hole by smell — it can pick up the scent of a seal through 3 feet of ice — and then wait beside it, sometimes for hours, without moving. When a seal surfaces, the bear strikes. Polar bears are also powerful swimmers and have been tracked swimming for days at a time between patches of ice. In summer, when the ice melts, many bears have to go without a proper meal for months.

A mother polar bear digs a snow den in autumn and gives birth inside it in the middle of winter. Her cubs are tiny and helpless at first, and they stay in the den drinking rich milk until spring, when the family finally comes out onto the ice. Cubs stay with their mother for around two years, learning how to hunt seals by watching her. Polar bears are listed as vulnerable because the sea ice they depend on is melting earlier each year and freezing later, which leaves them less time to hunt.

Here is every polar bear fact from this page and the polar bear quiz in one list — handy for a school project or a car-ride quiz.

1. Polar bear fur isn't white — it's see-through and hollow. Their skin is black!
2. They can smell a seal through 3 feet (1 m) of ice.
3. Polar bears can swim for days, covering 60+ miles without a break.
4. Their paws can be 12 inches wide — built-in snowshoes.
5. Polar bears are marine mammals — they spend most of their lives on sea ice over the ocean.
6. The black skin hides beneath fur that only looks white.
7. The hollow hairs trap warmth to keep the bear toasty in the cold.

❓ Common questions about polar bears

No — polar bears are wild animals that belong in the wild, and keeping one would be unsafe and almost always illegal. But if polar bears are your favorite, here's the closest pet you actually can welcome home:

Meet the DogBecause no pet is a polar bear, but a thick-coated, cold-loving dog breed captures some of that snowy spirit. See care guide →

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