The polar bear is the largest and most powerful carnivore on land. It is extremely dangerous. Polar bears do not fear humans and may even hunt people for food. They have no predators. 

Polar bears are not endangered - yet. There are still about 22,000 - 31,000 in the arctic but numbers have been falling. This is mostly because of warmer weather. When it is warmer, there is not as much sea ice. Polar bears need sea ice so they can hunt their favourite food - seals.

carnivore: meat eater

humans: people

arctic: the part of the Earth in the far north (North Pole)

Watch polar bears migrate as the ice grows.                                                                 Animation by Andrew Derocher

Polar bears mostly eat seals. Occasionally, they will hunt other animals such as walrus, narwhal or beluga whale. If they cannot find enough food, they will also eat other animals on land such as reindeer, or birds. They will eat seaweed, fish and even rubbish. 

Polar bear mums have 1-4 babies, called cubs, at a time. A newborn cub is 1 foot / 30 cm long. They are born small and helpless, with their eyes closed.

The mum digs a den in the snow to keep the cubs warm. The cubs would die if she did not keep them warm inside. The babies stay with their mum and drink milk for about 2.5 years but they start eating meat when they are about 3 or 4 months old. They grow quickly because their mother's milk has a lot of fat. The sea animals they eat are very fatty too. 

They learn to hunt by watching their mother and are ready to live on their own when they are 2-3 years old. 

 den: a hole in the ground used as an animal home