
#redirect Polar bear
#redirect Talk:Polar bear
:''"Polar Bear" is also a brand for a type of scuba diver's warm undersuit to be worn under a drysuit. If you have been brought here by searching for White Bear, did you mean White Bear Township, Minnesota?''
The polar bear (scientific Latin name ''Ursus maritimus''), also known as white bear or northern bear, is a large mammal of the order Carnivora (meat eater), family ''Ursidae'' (bears). It is a circumpolar species found in and around the Arctic Ocean and is the world's largest land carnivore. Adult males weigh from 400 to 600 kilogram (900 to 1300 lbs) and occasionally exceed 800 kg (1750 lbs). Females are about half the size of males and normally weigh 200–300 kg (450 - 650 lbs). Adult males measure 2.4 to 2.6 metre; females, 1.9 to 2.1 m. At birth, cubs weigh 600 to 700 gram. Population estimates range from 16,000 to 35,000, with about 60% in Canada. The polar bear is instantly recognisable by its white-coloured Fur. Unlike other arctic mammals, it never sheds this coat for a darker colour in the summer. The hair is not actually pigmentation white; it is unpigmented and hollow, like white hair in humans. Neither does the hair have Optical fiber properties, a commonly perpetuated urban legend. Polar bears are well insulated to the point where they overheat at temperatures above 10°C (50°F). Their insulation is so effective that when viewed with infrared camera they are barely visible. Only the pads of their feet emit detectable heat. It is the most completely carnivorous member of the bear family and feeds mainly on seal (mammal)s. Polar bears are excellent swimming and can often be seen in open waters miles from land. This may be a sign that they have begun aquatic adaptations to better catch their prey. They also hunt very efficiently on land due to their prodigious speed; they are more than capable of outrunning a human. Other prey include beluga whales, walruses and rodents. As a pure carnivore predating upon fish-eating carnivores, the polar bear ingests large amounts of Retinol, which is stored in its liver: in the past, humans have been poisoned by eating liver of polar bears. Contrary to popular belief, polar bears do not eat penguins: this is because polar bears live at the ''North'' Pole, and penguins live (primarily) at the ''South'' Pole. Polar bears are believed to be threatened, not mainly by hunting, but by habitat loss caused by global warming; for example, the area of ice covering Hudson Bay in Northern Canada in winter is shrinking, limiting their access to Seal (mammal) prey. The sensitivity of the survival rates of the bears to global temperature was documented by the population bulge in the cohort of bears born during the transient cooling that followed the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991. However, it turned out that the population of polar bears grew by unprecedented 15–25 percent between 1995 and 2005. The decrease in several regions was caused by hunting, not by climate change [http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=143012005]. An interesting feature of the coat is that it appears black when photographed with ultraviolet light. A number of people have suggested that this is because the hairs channel the light to the black skin of the bear to help it stay warm during the cold, sunless winters. Measurements show, however, that the hairs strongly absorb violet (color) and ultraviolet rays. This is why the polar bear's pelt often appears yellow. More colourful polar bears have occasionally been reported. In February 2004, two polar bears in the Singapore Zoo appeared to turn green as a result of algae growing in their hollow hair tubes. A zoo spokesman said that the algae had formed as a result of Singapore's hot and humid conditions. The bears were washed in a peroxide blonde solution to restore their expected colour. A similar algae grew in the hair of three polar bears at San Diego Zoo in the summer of 1979. They were cured by washing the algae away in a salt solution. Polar bears are known for their comical and often photogenic recreational activities. For example, they slide on their bellies, box with each other, and dunk one another underwater. When the female makes her den she makes it on a hillside so her cubs can slide down the hill on their bottoms, a feature commonly depicted in cartoons and other fictional depictions of polar bears, including a 1990s Coca-Cola ad campaign. In Australia, a polar bear, known commonly as the Bundy Rum Bear, is used as a mascot for Bundaberg Rum. A polar bear is depicted on Canada's $2 toonie coin. It is the mascot of at least two American schools, Bowdoin College, and Ohio Northern University. ==References== *[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/02/24/359374-ap.html Singapore's Green Polar Bears], Associated Press news report on cnews.canoe.ca *[http://www.polarbearsalive.org/ Polar Bears International], a polar bear conservation group ==External links== *[http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/ex_polar_bear_plunge.html Polar Cam], live video of the polar bear exhibit at the San Diego Zoo. Online daily between 09:00 – 16:00 UTC-8 (or UTC-7 during Daylight saving time) *[http://www.polarbearcam.com/ The Polar Bear Cam], live video and images from the polar bear migration near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Online during October and November only. *[http://www.svalbard-images.com/spitsbergen/polar-bears-e.php Pictures of polar bears on the island of Spitsbergen]
Image:Polar bears near north pole.jpg|Three polar bears investigate the submarine USS Honolulu 280 miles from the North Pole.
Image:two polar bears sparring.jpg|Two polar bears sparring near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.
Image:polarbeartrack-1.jpg|Polar bear tracks at Svalbard
Image:polarbearcup-1.jpg|Mother with cub at Svalbard
Image:Polar Bear.jpg|A Polar Bear resting.
Arctic animals
Bears
la:Ursus maritimus
ms:Beruang Polar
vi:Gấu trắng Bắc Cực
zh-min-nan:Pe̍h-hîm
Some facts I'm planning to massage into this article: #polar bears feet are turned inwards. this gives them better traction when walking on slick ice #polar bears are the most recent (100,000 years ago) species to begin adapting to aquatic life. The first mammal to adapt to aquatic life is the ancestor of all the whales and dolphins. The next adaptation was the seals and walruses, then the otters and their ilk. #polar bears are most closely related to brown bears. crossbreeding results in fertile offspring. (add also to brown bear) - User:UtherSRG 17:19, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC) I've also heard somewhere that polar bears are the only animals except humans that kill for fun/sport. Can anyone verify that? --User:Aramgutang 02:46, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC) :I've heard the same thing about various dolphin species, so though few animals seem to do this, saying "''only''" is overstating the case. User:Pcb21 User_talk:Pcb21 11:02, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::Sorry, not true: ever watch a housecat play with a mouse? I recently read David Brin's "Earth", in which he quotes somebody, to the effect: "It's foolish to believe the lie that only humans kill for fun." (It's near the end, I think.) I believe he also gives a few examples (including the cat/mouse one). If somebody is more familiar with the book or the quote, please help... --anon ==Albinos?== I've been thinking of weird questions lately and I've wondered if there is such thing as an albino Polar Bear? Could somone please verify this for me? User:Greyhead 15:21, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC) * Googling seems to indicate that while there's probably [http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/feb2002/1013115511.Ge.r.html no reason a polar bear ''can't'' be albino] - after all, they certainly do have melanin, which is coded for by genes that are just as susceptible to mutation as other genes - no albino polar bears are known to either exist or have existed. Why not? There just aren't, that's all; perhaps they've got melanin-coding genes on multiple alleles and even if one is defective in an albinism-causing fashion, the others compensate for it? Or maybe it's some other reason. There's only ever been one Floquet_de_Neu known, after all. Why? Who knows. User:DragonflySixtyseven 13:37, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==Surreal Edits== ''In their spare time they do fun stuff. They slide on their bellies, box with eachother, dunk eachother, and more. When the female makes her den she makes it on a hillside so her cubs can slide down the hill on their bottomes.'' I can't confirm or deny this but it seems a bit unlikely? The cubs do seem to 'play' in this way. I strongly doubt that the location of the den is decided in this fashion though. Does anyone have any data for this? User:Akadruid 15:01, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC) ==Weasels?== I had the impression from somewhere that polar bears aren't actually "bears" - that is, although ''morphologically'' they certainly look like bears, immunogenetic and/or skeletal analysis showed that they're far more closely related to weasels than they are to other bears. Does anyone know anything about this? User:DragonflySixtyseven 13:37, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Polar_Bear:
Polar_Bear
Polar_Bear
Polar_bear
Polar_bear
Polar_Bears
Polar_bears
Polar_Bears_Berlin
Polar_bear_club
Polar_Bear_Expedition
Polar_Bear_Express
Polar Bear
#redirect Polar bear
Polar Bear
#redirect Talk:Polar bear
Polar bear
:''"Polar Bear" is also a brand for a type of scuba diver's warm undersuit to be worn under a drysuit. If you have been brought here by searching for White Bear, did you mean White Bear Township, Minnesota?''
The polar bear (scientific Latin name ''Ursus maritimus''), also known as white bear or northern bear, is a large mammal of the order Carnivora (meat eater), family ''Ursidae'' (bears). It is a circumpolar species found in and around the Arctic Ocean and is the world's largest land carnivore. Adult males weigh from 400 to 600 kilogram (900 to 1300 lbs) and occasionally exceed 800 kg (1750 lbs). Females are about half the size of males and normally weigh 200–300 kg (450 - 650 lbs). Adult males measure 2.4 to 2.6 metre; females, 1.9 to 2.1 m. At birth, cubs weigh 600 to 700 gram. Population estimates range from 16,000 to 35,000, with about 60% in Canada. The polar bear is instantly recognisable by its white-coloured Fur. Unlike other arctic mammals, it never sheds this coat for a darker colour in the summer. The hair is not actually pigmentation white; it is unpigmented and hollow, like white hair in humans. Neither does the hair have Optical fiber properties, a commonly perpetuated urban legend. Polar bears are well insulated to the point where they overheat at temperatures above 10°C (50°F). Their insulation is so effective that when viewed with infrared camera they are barely visible. Only the pads of their feet emit detectable heat. It is the most completely carnivorous member of the bear family and feeds mainly on seal (mammal)s. Polar bears are excellent swimming and can often be seen in open waters miles from land. This may be a sign that they have begun aquatic adaptations to better catch their prey. They also hunt very efficiently on land due to their prodigious speed; they are more than capable of outrunning a human. Other prey include beluga whales, walruses and rodents. As a pure carnivore predating upon fish-eating carnivores, the polar bear ingests large amounts of Retinol, which is stored in its liver: in the past, humans have been poisoned by eating liver of polar bears. Contrary to popular belief, polar bears do not eat penguins: this is because polar bears live at the ''North'' Pole, and penguins live (primarily) at the ''South'' Pole. Polar bears are believed to be threatened, not mainly by hunting, but by habitat loss caused by global warming; for example, the area of ice covering Hudson Bay in Northern Canada in winter is shrinking, limiting their access to Seal (mammal) prey. The sensitivity of the survival rates of the bears to global temperature was documented by the population bulge in the cohort of bears born during the transient cooling that followed the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991. However, it turned out that the population of polar bears grew by unprecedented 15–25 percent between 1995 and 2005. The decrease in several regions was caused by hunting, not by climate change [http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=143012005]. An interesting feature of the coat is that it appears black when photographed with ultraviolet light. A number of people have suggested that this is because the hairs channel the light to the black skin of the bear to help it stay warm during the cold, sunless winters. Measurements show, however, that the hairs strongly absorb violet (color) and ultraviolet rays. This is why the polar bear's pelt often appears yellow. More colourful polar bears have occasionally been reported. In February 2004, two polar bears in the Singapore Zoo appeared to turn green as a result of algae growing in their hollow hair tubes. A zoo spokesman said that the algae had formed as a result of Singapore's hot and humid conditions. The bears were washed in a peroxide blonde solution to restore their expected colour. A similar algae grew in the hair of three polar bears at San Diego Zoo in the summer of 1979. They were cured by washing the algae away in a salt solution. Polar bears are known for their comical and often photogenic recreational activities. For example, they slide on their bellies, box with each other, and dunk one another underwater. When the female makes her den she makes it on a hillside so her cubs can slide down the hill on their bottoms, a feature commonly depicted in cartoons and other fictional depictions of polar bears, including a 1990s Coca-Cola ad campaign. In Australia, a polar bear, known commonly as the Bundy Rum Bear, is used as a mascot for Bundaberg Rum. A polar bear is depicted on Canada's $2 toonie coin. It is the mascot of at least two American schools, Bowdoin College, and Ohio Northern University. ==References== *[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/02/24/359374-ap.html Singapore's Green Polar Bears], Associated Press news report on cnews.canoe.ca *[http://www.polarbearsalive.org/ Polar Bears International], a polar bear conservation group ==External links== *[http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/ex_polar_bear_plunge.html Polar Cam], live video of the polar bear exhibit at the San Diego Zoo. Online daily between 09:00 – 16:00 UTC-8 (or UTC-7 during Daylight saving time) *[http://www.polarbearcam.com/ The Polar Bear Cam], live video and images from the polar bear migration near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Online during October and November only. *[http://www.svalbard-images.com/spitsbergen/polar-bears-e.php Pictures of polar bears on the island of Spitsbergen]
Polar bear
Some facts I'm planning to massage into this article: #polar bears feet are turned inwards. this gives them better traction when walking on slick ice #polar bears are the most recent (100,000 years ago) species to begin adapting to aquatic life. The first mammal to adapt to aquatic life is the ancestor of all the whales and dolphins. The next adaptation was the seals and walruses, then the otters and their ilk. #polar bears are most closely related to brown bears. crossbreeding results in fertile offspring. (add also to brown bear) - User:UtherSRG 17:19, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC) I've also heard somewhere that polar bears are the only animals except humans that kill for fun/sport. Can anyone verify that? --User:Aramgutang 02:46, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC) :I've heard the same thing about various dolphin species, so though few animals seem to do this, saying "''only''" is overstating the case. User:Pcb21 User_talk:Pcb21 11:02, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::Sorry, not true: ever watch a housecat play with a mouse? I recently read David Brin's "Earth", in which he quotes somebody, to the effect: "It's foolish to believe the lie that only humans kill for fun." (It's near the end, I think.) I believe he also gives a few examples (including the cat/mouse one). If somebody is more familiar with the book or the quote, please help... --anon ==Albinos?== I've been thinking of weird questions lately and I've wondered if there is such thing as an albino Polar Bear? Could somone please verify this for me? User:Greyhead 15:21, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC) * Googling seems to indicate that while there's probably [http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/feb2002/1013115511.Ge.r.html no reason a polar bear ''can't'' be albino] - after all, they certainly do have melanin, which is coded for by genes that are just as susceptible to mutation as other genes - no albino polar bears are known to either exist or have existed. Why not? There just aren't, that's all; perhaps they've got melanin-coding genes on multiple alleles and even if one is defective in an albinism-causing fashion, the others compensate for it? Or maybe it's some other reason. There's only ever been one Floquet_de_Neu known, after all. Why? Who knows. User:DragonflySixtyseven 13:37, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==Surreal Edits== ''In their spare time they do fun stuff. They slide on their bellies, box with eachother, dunk eachother, and more. When the female makes her den she makes it on a hillside so her cubs can slide down the hill on their bottomes.'' I can't confirm or deny this but it seems a bit unlikely? The cubs do seem to 'play' in this way. I strongly doubt that the location of the den is decided in this fashion though. Does anyone have any data for this? User:Akadruid 15:01, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC) ==Weasels?== I had the impression from somewhere that polar bears aren't actually "bears" - that is, although ''morphologically'' they certainly look like bears, immunogenetic and/or skeletal analysis showed that they're far more closely related to weasels than they are to other bears. Does anyone know anything about this? User:DragonflySixtyseven 13:37, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
P
PA | PB | PC | PD | PE | PF | PG | PH | PI | PJ | PK | PL | PM | PN | PO | PR | PS | PT | PU | PW | PX | PY | PZ |Words begining with Polar_Bear:
Polar_Bear
Polar_Bear
Polar_bear
Polar_bear
Polar_Bears
Polar_bears
Polar_Bears_Berlin
Polar_bear_club
Polar_Bear_Expedition
Polar_Bear_Express
These materials are based on Wikipedia and licensed under the GNU FDL
YouTube.com videos better site than Turbo Tax 2007
