The Polar Bear Essay, Research Paper

Introduction

Ursus maritimus, normally known as the polar bear, is rather an astonishing animate being. The polar bear is of the order Carnivora and of the household Ursidae. Polar bears live in the highly cold parts of the Arctic and in Tundra. They range from Alaska to Siberia, and have been found every bit far as 720 stat mis south of the Arctic Circle. The polar bear is rather immense. They can be every bit tall as 8.25 pess when on all four pess, or 12 pess when standing on their hind legs and weighs up to 1,764 lbs. The polar bear is carnivorous and can be really fierce when necessary, but is about the most soft bear of all. Populating in such a rough clime and being purely a meat-eater has molded the polar bear into an unbelievable mammal with many particular characteristics.

Motion

Since polar bears are carnivores and there isn T a batch of nutrient in the Arctic, they must be able to go a great distance at a good velocity. Looking at a polar bear you will likely detect that it is bowlegged. This means that their immense paws point inward. Having their paws in this place helps them grip the slippery ice. Another specialised characteristic of its paws is that they have tablets of dense pelt on the undersides. Polar bears are the lone bears that have this characteristic. These tablets help the bear retain heat and to grip the ice and supply better grip. Polar bears are fast movers. When on uneven ice the bear will jog, traveling its legs on opposite sides in unison. It can jog at 12 to 18 stat mis per hr. When it is running, it can make velocities of up to 35 stat mis per hr. The bear can go around 50 stat mis on an mean twenty-four hours.

The polar bear is besides an adept swimmer. The bear has a long cervix with a little caput which help it to be more streamlined when it is in the H2O. It besides has partly webbed pess which help it to paddle through the frozen Waterss. When swimming, the polar bear propels itself with its front paws and tips with its hind paws. While it is in the H2O the polar bear keeps its eyes unfastened, its ears flattened to the side of its caput, and its anterior nariss shut off. When the bear is in H2O it can swim at about 3 to 6 stat mis per hr and can go up to 100 stat mis nonstop every bit long as it surfaces for air every twosome of proceedingss.

Eating

Polar bears need big sums of nutrient. Fully adult polar bears can keep up to 200 lbs of nutrient in their tummy. Polar bears eat a broad scope of nutrient. They will eat fish, seahorses, dead sea animate beings that get washed ashore, seals, and it has even been reported that the polar bear has killed the hausen ( white giant ) from clip to clip. It has besides been reported that polar bears have killed worlds, but this was non for nutrient, merely ego defence. The polar bear s favourite nutrient is the annular seal.

To acquire this nutrient, the polar bear evidently must be a great huntsman. Since polar bears largest per centum of feeding is of the seal, it would be most of import to discourse how the bear Hunts for seal. Polar bears are intelligent huntsmans and cognize where the seals are merely by looking at the countries of ice. A polar bear can even smell a babe seal through 6 pess of snow and can pick up the aroma of seal breath from a great distance. Normally, the polar bear has two types of runing countries, above land and underwater. Above land, it will look for a seals take a breathing hole in the ice. Once it finds the hole it will merely wait like a statue until the seal comes to acquire air. When the seal comes for air, the polar bear grabs the seal by its cervix. Then it yanks it through the ice. Normally this will interrupt most of the castanetss in the seals organic structure. When the polar bear is traveling to run underwater, it will take down itself in without even doing the H2O rippling. Then it glides through the H2O easy progressing on its quarry until the concluding lethal haste. Sometimes when a polar bear is on the border of the H2O waiting to leap in and assail its quarry, it will keep its olfactory organ so the seals will non see its familiar black olfactory organ.

Once the polar bear has caught its seal, it will normally eat merely the tegument and blubber. The bear will eat really rapidly, eating big balls and non even masticating for about half an hr. It does this so no other animate beings will come an

vitamin D steal the nutrient from it while it is eating. After it is done, the bear will mount in the H2O and wash its face and paws. It may make this for up to 15 proceedingss.

Polar bears, like any other animate being, need a good supply of fresh H2O in their diet. Since there is largely ocean in the Arctic, the polar bear has to acquire its H2O elsewhere. It looks for old ice. It knows that in these countries of old ice, the salt has settled down through the ice blocks and left behind puddles of fresh H2O.

Response

Populating in such rough climes as the Arctic, a polar bear has to hold great senses and other versions in order to last. It has one of the best senses of odor of all animate beings. It can smell a putting to death from several stat mis away and as antecedently noted, seal breath from a great distance. They foremost pick up a aroma in the drive air, so follow it like a individual beam back to its beginning. The beam is likely instead narrow, and to maintain it in focal point, the great bears on occasion stand unsloped and snuff, traveling their caput from side to side. It besides has first-class vision. It can state what is traveling on around it merely by a speedy glimpse and frequently will see its quarries long before its quarry sees it.

The polar bear besides has highly thick pelt. The pelt is hollow, supplying insularity. This is what makes the polar bear waterproof. If they were non waterproof, they would merely turn into a block of ice when they jumped into the cold H2O to catch their quarry. It besides keeps them nice and warm in the winter. In the summer, nevertheless, they get highly hot. To chill down, they roll over on to their sides and lodge their paws out. This activity sends the heat out through their tablets, take downing their organic structure temperature.

Below all the pelt, there is a 4 to 5 inch thick bed of fat ( blubber ) . This blubber besides serves to maintain the bears warm. Occasionally, nevertheless, it gets excessively cold and the bear has to fall back to other agencies of maintaining warm. The bear will really plough itself into a snowdrift and lodge its rear terminal up to barricade the air current while its front terminal is under the snow.

On the other manus when it gets excessively hot to stand, the polar bear will delve itself a cave into the permafrost. The bear will maintain coming back to the cave twelvemonth after twelvemonth. Finally the cave can go rather deep.

Reproduction

With polar bears, copulating normally takes topographic point in April and May on the sea ice. When the female is in heat, she will get down taging her trail with several micturition s a twenty-four hours. The male polar bears can state immediately the paths of a female in heat. The male will follow the paths for several yearss until he finds her.

When the male meets the female, there is normally another male that he must contend with for the right to copulate. The victor so goes off with the female and they walk together for a couple hebdomads. The male polar bear will prove the female invariably to see if she is ready. When she is, the two will copulate several times over about a hebdomad.

After the female is pregnant she must derive a twosome hundred lbs of fat to hold a successful gestation. Besides, she will construct a pregnancy lair where she is to hold her greenhorns.

After she builds her lair, it takes about one to two months before she gives birth. When greenhorns are born, they are really bantam and lone weight about 1 lb. The cubs eyes stay closed for approximately 30 yearss and their eyetooth teeth merely go evident after about 50 yearss. The greenhorn Begin to walk after approximately 2 months. The female parent nurses the greenhorn for a twosome more months. The greenhorn will remain with their female parent for a couple old ages before they leave.

Most polar bears don t reproduce until they are around the age of five. The female will likely lose her first litter. Most litters are normally twins, nevertheless, some may be every bit big as four.

Decision

By now you can see what astonishing animate beings polar bears truly are. Today, polar bears are endangered animate beings and may go nonextant if poachers aren T stopped. However, an understanding between several states was late signed stating that people can t run them. This may assist to protect them to some grade, but in the long tally they will likely be killed off, except those maintained in menagerie.