In the cold, icy Antarctica a lone polar bear stands on a piece of ice keeping his head down so that he is not seen.  He looks around to find the easiest way to catch his prey, a seal.  The polar bear approaches the seal by swimming with only his head above the freezing cold water.  He surprises the seal by jumping out of the water.  Next, he bites the seal's head and then hits it on the head to kill it.  Last, the polar bear drags the seal back to his home so that he can feed his cubs.  This kill will keep the polar bear and his family alive for about six days.  Then he will be on the prowl for an unsuspecting seal once more.

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Where are the Cold Bears now?

     Polar bears are becoming more and more endangered each year because of their fur.  Most poachers do not want their fur for themselves they are paid to kill the polar bear and get it's fur.  Polar bear fur is worth a lot of money and now that they are endangered the prices are going way up because there are only about 15,000 polar bears left and 700 of these die every year.
     Polar bears only live to be about thirty years old.  Yet, most seem to be dying around fifteen to eighteen years of age.  Another reason that the polar bears are becoming more endangered is the large number of oil spills.  These oil spills are killing the seals that the polar bears have to have in order to survive.  Polar bears cannot live without food.

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   How to Help...

     One way that the polar bears can be helped is to pass and enforce laws that do not allow anyone to hunt this magnificent animal.  Along with providing protection to the polar bear, it would be very helpful to protect the ringed seal also.  If they remain plentiful, the polar bear has a better chance.
     If people were found possessing any part of a polar bear they should be fined and possibly jailed.  If people would stop paying poachers to kill them then eventually no one will hunt the polar bears.

 
 
 
 
 
     Polar bears should be placed in zoos so that they can live to be older and reproduce without the threat of starvation and death.  The zoo is really the safest place for a polar bear to be.  Each year, if left in the wild, seven hundred polar bears die.

Did you Know?

  • The polar bears are the most hunted animals in the world.
  • When polar bears get out of the water, they shake their heads off like a dog.
  • In January and February, the average temperature in the high Arctic is twenty-nine degrees below Fahrenheit.
  • Each paw measures about twelve inches across.
  • Native people believe that polar bears allow themselves to be killed in order to obtain the souls of the tools, which
  •  they will take with them    into the hereafter.
  • To pay respect to Nanuk's soul the hunter hung up the skin in an honored place in their igloo for several days.
  • Polar bears weigh up to 1,400 pounds.
  • Polar bears can run up to as fast as 15 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour.
  • Polar bears eat seals, sea birds, aruks, and small mammals.
  • Polar bears put their babies down in ice so they will be hidden.
  • Polar bears breed every other year.
  • The only time that polar bears move is when they are hungry.
  • They usually travel in groups when they are hunting.
  • Eskimos hunted polar bears by having them eat whalebones curved and covered in fat.
  • Polar bears grow in height to five feet.
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The Most Hunted Animal in the World

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