Polar bears are iconic animals. Ideally suited to live in the arctic, polar bears have struck the popular imagination, but they are at risk due to global warming and the melting of the sea ice in the Arctic. Evolved from brown bears, fossils from polar bears have found, indicating that the split happened at least 120,000 years ago. Polar bears have transparent fur that looks white due to the way it reflects the light. This allows them to camouflage on the snow as they hunt their prey. The largest land carnivore on Earth, polar bears are excellent swimmers. Though they don't hibernate, they do spend months without eating when food is scarce in the summer due to the absence of ice.
Female polar bears have a litter of two cubs every three years on average, and the youths stay with their mother for about two years before striking out on their own. They build a den and spend up to eight months nursing their young after birth. During this time, female bears do not eat, which means they must pack on the food before delivering their cubs.
Polar bears are entrenched in the Inuit culture, and are also popular in cultures that surround the Arctic. They are threatened not only by climate change, but also by human encroachment on their territories. Due to the lack of food in the spring and summer, many bears migrate to human settlements to scrounge through garbage. Toxins that accumulate in fish and other animals also ultimately end up in polar bears and can be passed to cubs through nursing. Ultimately, humans can prevent polar bear extinction, but it will take significant conservation efforts to do so.
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