Bear predator or mammal. Bears are herbivores or carnivores. Polar bears turn green in the tropics

Bear is the most large predator on the ground. This animal belongs to the class of mammals, order carnivores, family bears, genus bears ( Ursus). The bear appeared on the planet about 6 million years ago and has always been a symbol of power and strength.

Bear - description, characteristics, structure. What does a bear look like?

Depending on the species, the body length of a predator can vary from 1.2 to 3 meters, and the weight of a bear varies from 40 kg to a ton. The body of these animals is large, stocky, with a thick, short neck and a large head. Powerful jaws allow you to easily gnaw both plant and meat foods. The limbs are rather short and slightly curved. Therefore, the bear walks, swaying from side to side, and rests on the entire foot. The speed of a bear in moments of danger can reach 50 km / h. With the help of large and sharp claws, these animals extract food from the ground, tear apart prey and climb trees. Many bear species are good swimmers. The polar bear has a special membrane between the fingers for this. The life expectancy of a bear can reach 45 years.

Bears do not have sharp eyesight and well-developed hearing. This is offset by a great sense of smell. Sometimes animals stand on their hind legs in order to obtain information about the environment with the help of scent.

thick bear fur, covering the body, has a different color: from reddish-brown to black, white in polar bears or black and white in pandas. Species with dark fur turn gray and gray in old age.

Does a bear have a tail?

Yes, but only the giant panda has a noticeable tail. In other species, it is short and almost indistinguishable in the fur.

Types of bears, names and photos

In the bear family, zoologists distinguish 8 species of bears, which are divided into many different subspecies:

• Brown bear (common bear) (Ursus arctos)

The appearance of a predator of this species is typical for all representatives of the bear family: a powerful body, rather high at the withers, a massive head with rather small ears and eyes, a short, slightly noticeable tail, and large paws with very powerful claws. The body of a brown bear is covered with thick hair with a brownish, dark gray, reddish color, which varies from the habitat of the "clubfoot". Baby bear cubs often have large light tan marks on the chest or in the neck area, although these marks disappear with age.

The distribution range of the brown bear is wide: it is found in the mountain systems of the Alps and on the Apennine Peninsula, is common in Finland and the Carpathians, feels comfortable in Scandinavia, Asia, China, in the northwestern United States and in Russian forests.

• Polar (white) bear (Ursus maritimus)

It is the largest representative of the family: its body length often reaches 3 meters, and its mass can exceed one ton. It has a long neck and a slightly flattened head - this distinguishes it from its counterparts in other species. The color of the bear's coat is from boiling white to slightly yellowish, the hairs inside are hollow, therefore they give the bear's "fur coat" excellent thermal insulation properties. The soles of the paws are densely “lined” with tufts of coarse wool, which allows the polar bear to easily move on the ice cover without slipping. Between the toes of the paws there is a membrane that facilitates the process of swimming. The habitat of this species of bears is the polar regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

• Baribal (black bear) (Ursus americanus)

The bear is a bit like a brown relative, but differs from it in its smaller size and blue-black fur. The length of an adult baribal does not exceed two meters, and the female bear is even smaller - their body usually has a length of 1.5 meters. A pointed muzzle, long paws ending in rather short feet - this is what is remarkable this representative bears. By the way, baribals can become black only by the third year of life, at birth getting a gray or brownish color. The habitat of the black bear is vast: from the expanses of Alaska to the territories of Canada and hot Mexico.

• Malayan bear (biruang) (Helarctos malyanus)

The most "miniature" species among its bear counterparts: its length does not exceed 1.3-1.5 meters, and the height at the withers is slightly more than half a meter. This type of bear has a stocky build, a short, rather wide muzzle with small, round ears. The paws of the Malayan bear are high, while large, long feet with huge claws look a little disproportionate. The body is covered with short and very hard black-brown fur, the chest of the animal is “adorned” with a white-red spot. The Malayan bear lives in the southern regions of China, in Thailand and Indonesia.

• White-breasted (Himalayan) bear (Ursus thibetanus)

The slender physique of the Himalayan bear is not too different large sizes- this representative of the family is two times smaller than the brown relative: the male has a length of 1.5-1.7 meters, while the height at the withers is only 75-80 cm, the females are even smaller. The body of a bear, covered with shiny and silky hair of dark brown or black, is crowned by a head with a pointed muzzle and large round ears. An obligatory "attribute" of the appearance of the Himalayan bear is a spectacular white or yellowish spot on the chest. This species of bears lives in Iran and Afghanistan, is found in the mountainous regions of the Himalayas, in Korea, Vietnam, China and Japan, feels at ease in the open spaces Khabarovsk Territory and in the south of Yakutia.

• spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus)

Medium-sized predator - length 1.5-1.8 meters, height at the withers from 70 to 80 cm. The muzzle is short, not too wide. The wool of a spectacled bear is shaggy, has a black or black-brown hue, around the eyes there are necessarily white-yellow rings, smoothly turning into a whitish "collar" of fur on the animal's neck. The habitat of this species of bears is the countries of South America: Colombia and Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama.

• Gubach (Melursus ursinus)

A predator with a body length of up to 1.8 meters, at the withers, the height varies from 65 to 90 centimeters, females are approximately 30% smaller than males in both indicators. The trunk of the sloth is massive, the head is large, with a flat forehead and an overly elongated muzzle, which ends in mobile, completely devoid of hair, protruding lips. The bear's fur is long, usually black or dirty-brown in color, often forming a semblance of a shaggy mane in the neck of the animal. The chest of the sloth bear has a light spot. The habitat of this species of bears is India, some parts of Pakistan, Bhutan, the territory of Bangladesh and Nepal.

• Big panda (bamboo bear) ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

This type of bear has a massive, squat body, which is covered with dense, thick black and white fur. The paws are short, thick, with sharp claws and absolutely hairless pads: this allows the pandas to firmly hold the smooth and slippery bamboo stems. The structure of the front paws of these bears is very unusually developed: five ordinary fingers are complemented by a large sixth, although it is not a real finger, but is a modified bone. Such amazing paws enable the panda to easily manage the thinnest bamboo shoots. The bamboo bear lives in the mountainous regions of China, especially large populations live in Tibet and Sichuan.

The bear family (Ursidae) includes the largest of modern terrestrial predators. Most taxonomists believe that there are currently eight species of bears on Earth (they, in turn, are divided into many different subspecies), belonging to three different branches.

Bears are found on every continent except Africa, Australia and Antarctica. Three types of bears - spectacled, sloth and Malay - live in the tropics, but the center of origin of the bear family is in the Northern Hemisphere. A long time ago Brown bear also found in the Atlas Mountains of northwestern Africa.

Bears are predominantly inhabitants of various types of forests and light forests. One species - the polar bear - inhabits the Arctic deserts and ice.

The most probable ancestors of modern bears were small predators that lived 25 million years ago (subfamily Agriotheriinae). The most ancient member of this group, Ursavus elmensis, possessed long tail and looked like a raccoon, but the animals of a later period already resembled modern bears both in size and in appearance. This group gave rise to three modern subfamilies. The giant panda separated from the common trunk first, then the real bears (Ursus and his relatives) and the spectacled bears (Tremarctos) separated.

Depending on the species, the body length of a predator can vary from 1 to 3 meters, the mass of individual polar and brown bears can reach up to 1000 kg. Males are significantly larger than females.

The addition of bears is heavy, awkward. To support a large mass, their hind limbs are plantigrade (when walking, the entire sole is pressed against the ground). This also allows them to lift freely and stand on their hind legs. The structure of the front paws is different in different types bears - from plantigrade to semi-digital (the back of the foot is partially raised above the ground). All species have five toes on each paw, equipped with curved, non-retractable claws.

The skull of bears is massive, larger than that of other predators; the facial section is of medium length or shortened (especially in a spectacled bear). Wide molars with flat chewing surfaces and rounded fangs are well suited for crushing and grinding plant foods. Polar bears are exclusively carnivores, so their teeth are sharper. Depending on the species, bears have 40-42 teeth.

The fur of bears is thick and long; the coloration is usually dark, uniform, from brown to black (as an exception, white or contrasting two-tone), sometimes with a light pattern on the head and chest. The tail is very short; ears are small, rounded; the lips are large and very mobile.

Polar bears and most New World browns do not climb trees, only European browns and all other species climb trees where they feed or sleep, but they still prefer to spend most of their time on the ground. For a carnivorous animal that climbs trees, bears have surprising features - they have too short tails and completely lack facial vibrissae.

Most species of bears are non-specialized omnivores that feed on both berries, nuts, shoots, rhizomes and leaves of plants, as well as meat, fish and insects. They have an excellent sense of smell, color vision and a good memory, which allows them to remember places rich in food. It should be noted that bears do not digest vegetable food very well, since there are no symbiotic microorganisms in their gastrointestinal tract that can decompose fiber (these bacteria are found in the stomach of ruminants). Therefore, plant fibers and berries are excreted from the body almost undigested.

Photo and description of modern species of bears

And now let's get to know each of the eight types of bears closer.

Brown bear or common bear (Ursus arctos) is a typical representative of the bear family; found in Russia, Canada and Alaska. Prefers to settle in old forest areas, avoids wide open spaces, but can live up to 5000 meters above sea level, where there are no forests anymore. Habitats are usually confined to freshwater bodies of water.

The brown bear is a large animal: its body length is 1.5-2.8 m, the height at the shoulders is up to 1.5 m. Males weigh from 60 to 800 kg. The mass of adult predators varies depending on the time of year and geographical habitat. The smallest is the pika-eater from the mountains of Central Asia, and the largest is the Kodiak from Alaska and Kamchatka.

The photo shows a brown bear in all its glory.

Polar bear

Polar bear(Ursus maritimus) is the largest living member of the family. The length of his body is 2-2.5 m, the height at the withers is about 1.5 m, the body weight is on average 350-450 kg, but there are also giants with a body weight of more than 500 kg.

Distributed on the Arctic coast of the Arctic Ocean, in Northern Canada.

The color of the fur is pure white, often yellowish due to contamination with fat, especially in summer period. The fur is thick and warm, but the main warming function is played by a thick layer of subcutaneous fat.

The polar bear is the only member of the family that lives exclusively on a meat diet. He hunts young walruses, ringed seals, sea hares, beluga whales and narwhals.

On the picture polar bear with bear cubs. The female usually gives birth to two cubs once every 3 years. You can read more about polar bears in the article.

Black bear

The black bear or baribal (Ursus americanus) is found in Canada, northern Mexico, the USA, except for the central part of the Great Plains. Lives in dense forests, thickets of bushes, as well as in more open areas.

Black bear sizes vary by geographic location and season. Baribals are larger in the northern and eastern regions of their range. The length of their body varies from 1.2 to 1.9 meters, the height at the withers is from 0.7 to 1 meter.

The photo shows a black bear on a tree. The ability to climb trees is vital for baribals - here they feed and hide in case of danger.

The Himalayan or white-breasted bear (Ursus thibetanus) is found from Iran to Southeast Asia, Northern China, Primorye, Japan, and Taiwan. Prefers to settle in the forests of the temperate zone, subtropics and tropics.

Body length - 1.2-1.9 meters, weight of males 60-200 kg, females - 40-140 kg. Due to the long hair, the Himalayan bear seems to be much larger than it actually is. The coat is black with a white v-shaped mark on the chest, another mark is on the chin; around the neck there is a collar made of long wool. Apparently, the collar plays a role in protection against predators, because this species has always coexisted next to the tiger.

The white-breasted bear climbs trees beautifully, often building something resembling a nest, bending branches to the trunk.

The Himalayan bear is a rare vulnerable species. For 3,000 years, man has been hunting him because of his paws and gallbladder (dried bile is used in traditional Chinese medicine).

The life expectancy of a Himalayan bear is up to 25 years in nature and up to 37 years in captivity.

Malayan bear

The Malayan Bear or Biruang (Helarctos malayanus) is the smallest species of bear, sometimes referred to as the "dog bear". Due to their small size and friendly disposition, in Asia, buriangs are often kept in captivity as pets. Their body length does not exceed 140 cm, they weigh 27-65 kilograms. The coat of Malayan bears is short, black, with a white, orange or dark yellow crescent-shaped chest marking.

There are Malayan bears in Southeast Asia and East India. Their life is closely connected with trees, where they often sleep in specially built nests. They feed mainly on various fruits, but if such food is not enough, they switch to insects.

Malayan bears are diurnal. They breed at any time of the year, and the duration of pregnancy varies greatly (from 3 to 8 months).

In captivity, the Malayan bear can live up to 33 years.

The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) lives in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka. It is found mainly in lowland forests and steppes.

Body length - 1.4-1.9 meters, weight - 80-190 kg. The sloth coat is long, thick, black in color with a white spot on the chest. Its claws are slightly curved, the palate is wide, and the lips are elongated (this is how it got its name). These adaptations help the sloth beetle to dig up and suck up termites, which make up a large part of its diet. And he received his generic name (Melursus) for special love to honey: he often climbs trees and is ready to endure bee stings, just to feast on honeycombs. In addition to termites, various other insects and honey, sloth eats berries with pleasure.

The sloth has a long coat, which is quite surprising for a species that lives in the rainforest. Apparently, it plays the same role as the loose clothing worn by people living in hot climates.

The sloth bear is a vulnerable species. In captivity, life expectancy is up to 34 years.

Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) Lives in the Andes from eastern Venezuela to the border of Bolivia and Argentina. It occurs in a wide variety of biotypes: in mountainous and humid tropical forests, alpine meadows and even in deserts.

Body length - 1.3-2.0 meters, weight - 100-200 kg. The coat is black with a creamy white bib mark on the chin, neck, chest; around the eyes there are white markings of various shapes (hence the name of the bear).

The spectacled bear is a rather slender animal. Despite its relatively large size, it is agile and good at climbing trees, where it obtains food and builds nests for rest from branches and twigs.

In different habitats, the diet of spectacled bears varies, but food of plant origin (fruits, bamboo, cacti, etc.) predominates everywhere. They also enter the fields of grain crops, corn, which annoy farmers a lot.

In captivity, a spectacled bear lives up to 39 years.

Big panda

The giant panda or bamboo bear (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is found in Sichuan, Shanxi and Gansu of central and western China. Prefers cool moist bamboo forests at an altitude of 1500-3400 meters above sea level.

The height of the giant panda at the withers is 70-80 cm, weight is 100-150 kg. The wool of the bamboo bear is black and white (circles around the eyes, the area around the nose, front and hind legs and shoulders are black, everything else is white).

The diet consists predominantly of bamboo; occasionally pandas eat bulbs of various plants, cereals, insects and rodents.

In nature, a panda usually lives up to 20 years, in captivity - up to 30 years.

Today, great efforts are being made to preserve the giant panda, however, despite the most severe ban, animals still become victims of poachers. They also fall into traps set on other animals. Read more about the giant panda.

What types of bears are the most dangerous?

Bears are often referred to as aggressive and dangerous animals. Indeed, their strength and size allow them to easily cope with a person, but the tendency of bears to attack people is greatly exaggerated.

Only polar bears, being real predators, are perhaps the only members of the family that actually sometimes perceive a person as prey, while tracking him down according to all the rules of hunting. Their attacks are driven by hunger, not fear. It is polar bears that are considered the most dangerous to humans. However, not many people live near polar bears, and people, knowing who they might have to deal with, always carry weapons with them.

In second place in terms of danger to humans are brown bears, but their aggressiveness largely depends on geographical location a habitat. Grizzlies in the center of the American continent, as well as bears living in Siberia, are really dangerous. This is especially true of she-bears who protect their cubs, or animals that defend their prey. In the eastern regions of Europe, more aggressive individuals are found. But in general, all bears, like other wild animals, try not to get in the way of a person and, if possible, avoid meeting with him.

American black bears, especially those that live next to humans, often frighten people, but very rarely cause them any harm.

Spectacled bears are very cautious and absolutely not aggressive towards humans, but it happens that they attack livestock.

Among the Asian bears, only the giant panda is a true vegetarian, and naturally, it does not pose any danger to humans.

Malayan bears often scare the locals. If they are accidentally disturbed, they usually rear up, roar furiously and make a sharp lunge towards the enemy, but they rarely really attack.

Himalayan bears and sloth bears, which often have to fight back large cats, are more likely to attack than flee. Many people think that sloth bears are more dangerous than tigers.

Literature: Mammals: The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia / Translated from English / Book. I. Carnivores, marine mammals, primates, tupai, woolly wings. / Ed. D. MacDonald. - M: "Omega", - 2007.

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This is the largest not only from the bear family, but among all terrestrial predators: in males, the body length is up to 280 cm, the height at the withers is up to 150 cm, the weight can reach 800 kg (in zoos, very obese animals can reach up to a ton); females are smaller and lighter than males. The body is elongated, narrow in the front, while the back is very massive; the neck is long and mobile. The feet are wide, especially on the front paws, the calluses are almost invisible under the thick hair. The head is relatively small, with a straight profile and a narrow forehead, rather high-set eyes. The ears are short, rounded, little protruding from the hairline. The fur is very thick and dense, coarse, not very long on the back and sides - there are no elongated hairs even on the withers. But on the belly back side paws have very long hair (in winter, the awn here is up to 25 cm), which is extremely necessary when you have to rest, lying on the snow. The hair on the feet is also elongated, surrounding them around the entire perimeter with a kind of thick halo: this increases the supporting surface, which is necessary both when moving on snow and when swimming. The coloration throughout the body is white: this is primarily characteristic of animals living in ice, and serves as a means of disguise. Only after a long stay on land, the animals acquire a dirty grayish-brown color. Thus, the brownish-gray-yellow multicolor, in which the fur of polar bears in zoos is decorated, is elementary urban dirt, completely unusual for wild animals.

Many features of the morphology and physiology of this species are associated with living in conditions of constant cold, the need for a long stay in the water, feeding on seals. Its fur is an excellent protection against very cold air, but it does not have water-repellent properties: it is striking that, unlike seals or sea otters, a polar bear's fur coat passes ice water to the skin. But all year round under his skin lies a thick - 3-4 cm - layer of fat: it not only protects the beast from the cold, but also reduces the specific gravity of his body, making it easier to stay on the water. The skin itself (mezdra) is dark in color, which allows you to capture more sunlight on clear days. The nature of the metabolism is such that even a temperature of -50°C does not seem very cold to this beast, but already at a temperature of +15°C the beast begins to overheat, tends to go into the shade. The structure of the digestive tract is also specific: the intestines are shorter than those of other bears, but the stomach is very capacious, which allows the predator to eat a whole seal at once after a long hungry journey through lifeless ice. An unusually high content of vitamin A in the liver of this animal is associated with feeding on very fatty food, which is necessary to maintain normal life in the cold.

The polar bear, without much exaggeration, can be considered a sea animal. Its range mostly extends in the floating ice of the Arctic Ocean, capturing its islands and the mainland coast. This peculiar circumpolar region does not have a northern border, and in the south it is outlined by the northern coast of the mainland and the southern edge of distribution floating ice. In the expanses of the ocean, the existence of a predator is closely related to the places of concentration of seals - leads, cracks, edges of floating ice and fast ice. In particular, there are a lot of polar bears in the area of ​​the so-called “Great Siberian polynya” - an extensive network of breeding areas, the open water of which attracts many inhabitants of high latitudes. Most often, this polar inhabitant can be found on 1-2-year-old ice up to 2 meters thick, abounding in ridges of hummocks and snow drifts. On older ice, the surface of which has been leveled by repeated summer melting, there are fewer polar bears due to the lack of shelters and a water table. He also avoids young, still fragile ice 5-10 centimeters thick, which does not hold this overweight predator. On land, the bear rarely appears, mainly during migrations. However, polar bears often arrange winter dens on land, but not on the mainland, but on the Arctic islands.

The habitats of the polar bear are called the "Arctic desert" - partly because there are fewer animals and birds than, for example, in the middle lane, partly because of their low suitability for humans. Therefore, this predator spends most of its time outside the areas of active economic activity of people. In the recent past, when the uncontrolled hunt for the white giant flourished, he shunned human settlements. Now, having a protective status, the beast does not feel uncomfortable next to them. In some places, polar bears, like brown relatives in national parks, even form a kind of "semi-domestic" populations, for which landfills and garbage dumps serve as a food base. Quite freely behave in the villages and migrating animals, which, if the opportunity arises, even strive to invade dwellings for the sake of something edible.

Most of the life of a polar bear takes place in migrations and does not imply attachment to any particular small territory. These nomadic predators do not have specific individual areas - they own the entire Arctic. During autumn and spring migrations, animals are able to cover 40-80 kilometers per day. In conditions of little mobile sea ice, the range of their migrations is about 750 kilometers, while some animals are able to move 1000 kilometers from their main habitat. Migrations are mainly associated with seasonal changes in the ice regime and are due to the need to search for open water, are limited mainly by sea spaces and coastline. Polar bears go deep into the mainland only along the valleys of such major rivers, like Khatanga in Taimyr or Anadyr in Chukotka, and even then no more than 200-300 kilometers from the sea coast.

Mass movements of polar bears from the deep regions of the Arctic occur mainly in a southerly direction. They begin everywhere in autumn, when ice fields begin to close and polynyas close. Wanderings of polar bears do not occur randomly, but along certain routes. Particularly noticeable are the “bear roads” along the coasts of the Arctic islands and the headlands of the continental land that are far out into the sea. So, polar bears constantly travel along the “ice bridge” between Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya. The spring melting of ice and the release of polynyas encourages bears to return to their former places.

Where sea ice is mobile, bears drift with it in "passive migrations." Animals floating on large ice floes can be carried by sea currents far beyond the Arctic - to the shores of Newfoundland, Iceland, Kamchatka, and even further south. It is noteworthy that such “seafarers”, carried away by the ice to the southern coast of Chukotka, return to their native places not by sea, but by land, crossing the tundra and high rocky mountains straight across.

A wandering lifestyle frees the polar bear from the need to make permanent shelters. Many animals do without shelters at all, resting right on the snow or on the top of a cliff - where fatigue overtakes. Unless they hide among hummocks, coastal cliffs or buried in deep snow from a particularly blizzard. The problem of establishing long-term shelters is mainly faced by females preparing for motherhood: like other bear species, they need warm (by Arctic standards) wintering dens to give birth to offspring.

“Maternity” dens are most often located on large islands - Greenland, Wrangel, Svalbard and others, usually no further than a few kilometers from the coastline, but they had to come across in the mountains 25-27 kilometers from the sea. It is interesting that these animals, not numerous and generally unsociable, like all large predators, in some places arrange something similar to “maternity hospitals”, tearing out dens not far from each other. So, on about. Wrangel every year 180-200 she-bears gather for wintering; moreover, on one of the mountain ranges in the northwestern part of this island, with an area of ​​\u200b\u200bonly 25 km2, there are different years 40-60 dens, sometimes located at a distance of 10-20 meters from one another.

A female bear digs a permanent lair in a many-meter-long snow pile that has accumulated on the slope of a hill or mountain. This is most often a simple chamber with a diameter of 1-2 meters, which communicates with the surface with a stroke of the same length. There are also more complex designs with multiple cameras. The thickness of the roof above the nesting chamber is usually half a meter to a meter, but sometimes it is only 5-10 centimeters. Such a clearly unsuccessful structure, it happens, collapses and the female is forced to seek or dig a new shelter. As in the Eskimo “igloo” ice dwelling, the main chamber of the den is located above the manhole, which helps to preserve the heat generated by the animal itself: it is usually 20 ° warmer in the chamber than on the snow surface. The she-bear digs a lair for two or three days. After it finally lies down, the rest of the work is completed by blizzards, which completely clog the entrance hole with a snow plug, only occasionally a small ventilation hole remains. Temporary male dens are simpler; sometimes the beast just burrows into the snow. The winter decrease in activity in the polar bear has its own specifics. In this species, an indispensable winter sleep is characteristic only of females ready for the birth of cubs: they lie in dens for 5 months, fit in November and leave in March-April. Males and barren females in a significant part of the range, especially in its southern regions, can be active all year round. Only in places where the climatic conditions in winter are more than severe even for such hardy animals and food is difficult to obtain, many males also save themselves in dens. They disappear in December for a month or two, but as soon as the period of bad weather ends, they leave their hiding places and continue their wanderings. In rare cases, animals lie in dens in the summer. This interesting feature is characteristic, for example, of bears on the coast of Hudson's Bay: some of them survive short periods of starvation in pits dug in sandy cliffs or on coastal spits.

Compared to the brown bear, the white bear seems less smart and less agile. He is less trainable, somewhat “straightforward” in his actions. All this is obviously related to its habitation in more homogeneous environmental conditions and greater food specialization, which does not require a variety of skills and the ability to quickly respond to unexpectedly arising difficult situations. However, in terms of the ability to assess the quality of ice, to adapt hunting tactics to the specific terrain, he has no equal among the inhabitants of the Arctic deserts.

The animal runs very rarely, while pursuing it can gallop for a short time at a speed of 20-30 km/h, but soon gets tired and switches to a sprawling trot, slowing down to 8-12 km/h. An adult heavy beast is generally not able to run more than 10 kilometers. If the chase drags on, he sits down and, barking loudly, tries to frighten and put the pursuer to flight. In general, the predator does not feel very confident on the ground and, when pursued, tends to go onto the ice or into the water. Here among the hummocks, this seemingly heavy beast is amazingly dexterous and agile: it easily overcomes ice ridges up to 2 meters high, leaving not only from humans, but also from dogs. Clinging with its claws, it climbs steep, almost sheer ice walls, boldly jumps from boulders 3-4 meters high into water or onto ice, jumps out of the water onto a flat, low ice floe without a splash.

These inhabitants of the Arctic seas swim well and willingly - however, mainly in summer, in winter only especially well-fed individuals go into the water. The bear rows with its front paws, and with its hind legs it mainly steers. Under water, it lasts up to 2 minutes, while the eyes are open and the nostrils are closed. In the open sea, adult animals are sometimes found 50 or even 100 kilometers from the nearest earthly firmament. The 5-6-month-old cubs go into the water themselves and swim well.

The power of this beast is truly amazing. He is able to pull a walrus carcass weighing more than half a ton onto the ice and up the slope. A bearded seal, weighing slightly less than the bear itself, can be killed by a predator, crushing the skull of the victim with a single crushing blow of the paw, and, if necessary, transferring its carcass in its teeth for a distance of up to a kilometer.

The polar bears have the most developed sense of smell and hearing. When hunting or surveying the situation, he goes against the wind, often stopping and sniffing. The smell of a dead seal carcass, even if it is powdered with snow, can be smelled hundreds of meters away. The creaking steps of a man trying to approach the animal in the snow from the leeward side, he hears two hundred meters away, and the noise of an all-terrain vehicle or aircraft engine - several kilometers away. The vision is also very sharp: a polar predator is able to distinguish a dark point of a seal lying on a snow-white ice floe at a distance of several kilometers.

The ability of polar bears to navigate in the vast expanses of seemingly homogeneous ice plains causes surprise and admiration. Being on land or on ice, the animal is able to accurately locate areas of open water, sometimes remote for tens of kilometers, and confidently go to them. During seasonal migrations, overcoming hundreds of kilometers in a once chosen direction, these wanderers deviate from the course by some 20-30 °. Even when traveling with drifting ice, the animals make their way back in a straight line, and do not follow the whims of floating ice blocks.

Polar bears lead a solitary lifestyle. Only sometimes they are found in several individuals near abundant prey - for example, near a whale carcass thrown ashore - or on mass migration routes, and females live side by side in places of “maternity hospitals”. In general, these animals, which do not need to protect their sites from anyone, are not aggressive. For this reason, and also due to the fact that they are not timid, at the first meeting with a person, the bear reacts to him in general quite peacefully, without fear or aggression, and sometimes simply indifferently. If a person tries to approach him, a huge predator prefers to leave: the real threat can be mainly a female with cubs or a wounded animal. True, cases of attacks on people are still noted, and several times it was necessary to shoot cannibal bears. It is curious that this predator usually hides a person lying on ice or snow - perhaps the bear is driven by the instinct of a seal hunter, for whom the lying posture is most common.

In recent years, due to the introduction of measures to protect the polar bear and the growth of the population in the Arctic, people's meetings with this unique animal have become more frequent and sometimes begin to bring obvious inconvenience. As in the case of the brown bear, in a number of places the animals gather in the vicinity of settlements, where they feed on garbage, and if there is a shortage of it, they break into storage facilities. Once in one of the fishing points in Chukotka, when people worked there, an adult male settled in an empty barn and lived in it until the end of the fishing season. On the coast of Hudson's Bay, where it accumulates in autumn a large number of migratory bears, they are so impudent that, for example, in the village of Churchill, they walk the streets in broad daylight and sometimes cause traffic jams.

The polar bear, unlike its omnivorous relatives, is a predator that actively hunts large animals. Its main food is arctic seals, primarily the smallest of them, ringed seals, less often bearded seals, even more rarely hooded seals and harp seals. As an exception, the animal hunts larger prey - walruses, beluga whales and narwhals, attacking, however, only young individuals, so adult giants are completely indifferent to this predator. During winter wanderings on land, a bear, having stumbled upon a herd of reindeer, can, if he is very lucky, drive some kind of deer into the water and crush it there. Among polar bears, cases of cannibalism are not uncommon, to which they are prompted by the harsh conditions of existence: especially often, cubs fall into the mouths of adult males. At the end of summer-autumn, bears explore the coasts in search of the corpses of marine animals thrown out by the sea: sometimes 3-5 feasting predators gather near the carcass of a whale. They rarely catch fish themselves, but they willingly pick up those thrown onto the ice by the waves. However, in those days when polar bears were common in Labrador, they gathered near spawning rivers during the course of salmon and, like brown ones, were actively engaged in fishing.

On land, bears sometimes feed on birds and their eggs, and on occasion they grab lemmings. With a lack of familiar animal food on the mainland and islands, they do not disdain vegetable food: in the tundra they eat cloudberries, in the intertidal zone - algae such as kelp (“seaweed”), fucus. Bears have been observed on Svalbard, even diving underwater in search of these algae. Females are especially fond of green vitamin food immediately after leaving the den: they dig up the snow and eat willow shoots found under it, sometimes moss and sedge leaves. Near housing, these predators willingly “graze” in landfills, where they devour everything that seems edible to them. This sometimes leads to the death of animals, because among the swallowed may be, for example, a tarpaulin soaked in engine oil.

Arctic foxes feed on the remnants of the polar bear's meal, gulls - white and burgomaster. Some of them gather at the feast site only after the bear has already left it. Other “freeloaders” accompany the predator in its wanderings among the ice, especially often in winter. With each bear, sometimes you can see 2-3 arctic foxes and 4-6 large gulls.

The hunting tactics of this predator is quite flexible, determined by the season of the year, weather conditions, the state of ice, the abundance of potential prey. In essence, it is based on the use of several basic techniques: the predator hides the prey on the ice, watches over the water, or approaches it through the water. In any case, the success of the hunt depends on whether or not the beast has time to grab the prey on the ice floe, because in the water, neither in speed nor in maneuverability of movements, the bear can be compared with the seal.

Stealing is used most often: a bear looks out for prey from afar and approaches it behind hummocks or snow puffs. Caught on smooth ice, it flattens on its belly and crawls, pushing off with its hind legs and freezing every time a seal lying on the edge of an ice floe or hole wakes up and raises its head to look around. Approaching the victim at 4-5 meters, the bear jumps up and in a swift throw with one or two jumps tries to get the seal. If he did not have time to slip into the water, the predator kills or stuns the victim by hitting the front paw on the head and immediately pulls it away from the water. The whole episode of hiding can take from 2 to 5 hours, depending on how long and winding the hunter's path among the shelters was. Sometimes the direction of the attack changes to the opposite: the predator carefully swims across the water to the seal lying on the edge of the ice floe, plunging so that only the upper part of the muzzle remains on the surface, and, jumping out onto the ice floe with one jump, tries to cut off the prey's escape route.

Quite often, a bear watches for a seal at the exit from the water, lying motionless for hours at the edge of a hole or air in an ice floe. If the hole is small, the animal expands it with its claws and teeth before starting the sitting. As soon as the seal's head appears, the bear's paw falls on it with lightning speed, and then the predator literally pulls the motionless carcass out of the water onto the ice, sometimes breaking its ribs on the icy edges of a narrow hole.

During the breeding season, ringed seals arrange shallow snowy shelters - "huts" where the cubs hide. The bear knows how to find them by smell and, bringing down the snow vault with its paws or with all its weight, tries to get to the victim littered with snow clods as quickly as possible. If a predator encounters a breeding ground harp seals, he can cause great havoc among the openly lying on the ice and completely helpless cubs, continuing to kill them after he has had his fill. According to eyewitnesses, the bear plays with seal pups like a cat with a mouse.

Adult walruses, even single ones, are simply afraid of the water and do not touch the polar bear. And on land, the predator tries to bypass these giants. Nevertheless, he sometimes approaches their rookeries in the hope of grabbing carrion, since the screening of walruses in the first days and weeks of their life is quite large. Sometimes the bear itself “puts its paw” to this, disturbing the rookery with its appearance and prompting heavy carcasses to move from place to place, crushing one or two heavy-weight adolescents.

On the sea coast, bears sometimes visit bird markets, picking up fallen local inhabitants at their feet or trying to get close to the eggs. They are also interested in the colonies of geese, extracting molting birds from them. Some "specialists" contrive to hunt in the water for resting on the surface of sea birds - eiders, guillemots, gulls, swimming up to them under water and grabbing them from below.

The availability of food for polar bears depends on the season. In spring and summer, predators living in ice do not lack food. The hungriest time for bears is winter: seals keep under the thin ice of the edges of large ice fields, and bearded seals completely migrate to areas of open water. It is this circumstance that prompts the bears that have remained awake to make long journeys: sometimes, from one hunted seal to another, the animal is forced to travel more than one hundred kilometers, remaining without food for a week or a half.

At one time, an adult bear eats up to 20 kilograms of food. Most often, the predator is limited to the most high-calorie part of the seal carcass - the subcutaneous layer of fat, which he devours along with the skin, pulling it off with a “stocking” from the killed victim. Only a very hungry animal eats meat, leaving large bones intact.

The mating season of polar bears begins in early Arctic spring and lasts until June. At this time, you can meet double and triple chains of tracks: this is a female and the males who found her make joint walks. After the clarification of the relationship between the males, which is accompanied by a roar and fights, the female remains with the winner for another month, and then the couple breaks up, the animals begin to prepare for a long winter night. Pregnant females go to the islands in search of suitable places for dens, where in November-January each bear 1-2 cubs are born. They are born helpless, covered with short sparse hair, weighing 600-800 grams. Eyes and ears open by the end of the first month of life, the cubs begin to crawl on the curled up mother. By the end of the second month, their milk teeth erupt, fluffy fur grows. 3 months after the birth of the cubs, the family leaves the winter shelter.

The first few days after leaving the den, the female with the cubs keeps near her, hiding in the shelter at the first danger. Then they take small walks in the vicinity of the “maternity hospital”, and the female almost does not leave the cubs. On clear days, the cubs happily ride down the steep snow-covered slopes sparkling in the sun, leaving characteristic “paths” on the surface. A few days later, the she-bear with her cubs goes to the coastal sea ice. For the duration of the hunt, she leaves the cubs in a safe place - away from adult males, which pose a serious danger to cubs. The young begin to feed on the fat of the seals caught by the mother at 3-4 months. Feeding with very fatty milk, like that of seals and whales, usually lasts 6-8 months, by the end of this period the cubs already weigh 50-60 kilograms. If there are not enough seals and hunting for them is not successful, lactation lasts even longer: the female, lying in a den with second-year cubs who did not have time to gain the required amount of subcutaneous fat by winter, feeds them with milk until the next spring.

All next summer, while the family is together, the she-bear teaches the cubs how to catch seals during joint hunts. A two-year-old bear cub is still too clumsy to steal a cautious seal lying near the hole, and its mass is simply not enough to bring down the roof of the seal's “hut” and profit from the seal. Therefore, young ones themselves begin to successfully extract prey only at the age of three. The family breaks up in the fall, when the young animals are equal in size to the female, although there are cases of cubs lying together with the she-bear in one den and for the second winter. Animals mature at the age of 3-4 years, life expectancy is up to 30 years, in captivity - up to 40 years.

The long-standing neighbors of the polar bear in the Arctic - the Chukchi, Eskimos, Nenets - have always treated him with respect. They have an extensive folklore associated with this beast, glorifying its strength, dexterity, and endurance. For hundreds of years specially guarded cult altars - sedanga - were formed from the skulls of hunted bears. They tried to appease the “spirit” of the killed animal by arranging a holiday in honor of a successful hunt, they brought the skin with the skull left in it into the dwelling, offered it food, drink, and a pipe. Among the Russian coast-dwellers, this animal, hunted by them with great difficulty and risk, also aroused respect. It is noteworthy that they themselves called themselves “ushkuyns”, i.e. “bear cubs”: the Pomors called the polar bear with usk.

The polar bear has always been of great practical importance for the locals. Meat and fat were used as food and feed for sled dogs, shoes and clothes were sewn from skins, bile was used as medicine. It is possible that the virtuoso ability to hunt seals, the art of building a “needle” that retains heat in severe frosts, northern peoples borrowed from this polar predator. Intensive widespread hunting for the polar bear began in the 17th-18th centuries, when St. John's wolves, whalers, fur traders, and later polar expeditions rushed to the north. Although their goals were different, polar bears were considered by all of them in exactly the same way - only from a “gastronomic” point of view, as a source of fresh meat. Another purpose of the fishery was the skins used for the manufacture of carpets. In places of fox hunting, this predator, during the winter hungry migrations “checking” the traps and warehouses of hunters, was shot as a supposedly “dangerous pest”. The beast was beaten without counting and without pity, sometimes up to 1.5-2 thousand pieces a year, even females with cubs in "maternity hospitals". The result was not long in coming: by the end of the 19th century, there were clear signs of a decline in the number of polar bears. However, even in the 30s of our century, when it became clear that the breeding of bears could no longer compensate for losses from predatory hunting, the volume of annual fishing fell only slightly.

The turning point occurred in the 1950s, when polar bear hunting was banned in most countries. A certain number of predators were allowed to be hunted only by the indigenous inhabitants of the North, and shooting for self-defense was also allowed (which is sometimes justified by poachers). The annual capture of a small number of cubs for zoos and circuses is also allowed. To protect the “maternity hospitals” of polar bears, wildlife sanctuaries and reserves have been organized - in the northeast of Greenland, off the southern shores of Hudson Bay, on our island. Wrangel. Considering that this animal breeds successfully in zoos, we can assume that the threat of direct destruction of the species has now been removed.

Nevertheless, the ban on polar bear hunting remains, populations from the European and Beringian (Chukotka, Alaska and adjacent islands) sectors of the Arctic are included in the Red Book of Russia.

Pavlinov I.Ya. (ed.) 1999. Mammals. Big encyclopedic dictionary. M.: Astrel.

THESE AMAZING BEARS

youngest

The youngest of modern species The family of bears is the polar bear, or oshkuy, which descended from the coastal Siberian brown bear 100 - 250 thousand years ago. Today it is the largest predator among land mammals.

Bear claws do not retract

The soles are convex, the surface is rough, adapted for movement on slippery ice. Paws in polar bears are much larger in relation to the body than in other bears. When walking, bears step on the foot completely, like a person, and not like dogs - with claws

flat feet

All bears are flat-footed: the sole and heel of the foot touch the ground equally. On each paw they have five long curved claws, with which the bear is equally good at digging the ground (or ice) and coping with prey. The polar bear has long fur between its toes, which makes it easier for the animal to move on the ice and warms its paws. Very wide front legs serve as skis when moving on land and help with swimming. Polar bears are kept on the water by a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and two rows of hair, greased and waterproof.

Up to 40% of the mass of a polar bear

is subcutaneous fat, which reliably protects the animal from hypothermia.

Vision and hearing of bears

Not well researched, available evidence suggests they can be compared to canine vision and hearing

Orientation and sense of smell

Polar bears have a well-developed sense of orientation and a fine sense of smell: a dead seal can be smelled by a polar bear from a distance of 200 miles. It senses prey under the ice as well: it detects a live seal from a distance of 1 m, even if it is under the ice in the water, and the polar bear is on land.

Bears are very smart

They are very smart when it comes to getting food. All polar bears Ursus (Thalarctos) maritimus are left-handed.

Withstand temperatures up to -80C

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and seals withstand temperatures down to -80°C, ducks and geese are less afraid of the cold, withstanding temperatures down to -110°C. Polar bear hair has the properties of fiber optics: colorless hairs conduct sunlight to the skin that absorbs it. During the summer, the bear receives up to a quarter of the energy it needs in the form of solar heat.

The ears of a polar bear are smaller than those of relatives

This helps him retain body heat.

Polar bear fur

...corresponds to the name of a mammal, but in the summer it sometimes becomes straw-yellow, oxidizing in the sun. Individual outer hairs, called guard hairs, are transparent and hollow. Absorbing ultraviolet, they pass it into the black, like the nose and lips, the skin of a bear. Wool retains heat so well that it cannot be detected by infrared photography, only by ultraviolet. When the air temperature is below zero, a bear can swim in the icy Arctic water up to 80 km without rest.

Polar bears turn green in the tropics

The white-and-yellow fur of the polar bears living at the Singapore Zoo turned green from the fact that algae began to actively bloom on the wool. This is a consequence of Singapore's hot and humid climate. The bear managed to be cleaned with hydrogen peroxide, but her son still continues to turn green and moldy: he has bright light green marks between his ears, on his back, and also on his paws. Last time a similar case of "greening" polar bears was observed at the San Diego Zoo in 1979. Three bears were cleaned with saline.

Fur indicates allergies

An unusual allergic reaction was found in a polar bear that lives in an Argentine zoo. After a doctor gave the bear an experimental drug for dermatitis, the bear changed color. It used to be white, but now it's purple. The bear himself did not react to what happened. Veterinarians say that the bear will turn white again in about a month.

42 teeth

Bears have 42 teeth

Tramp bear

The polar bear is distributed throughout the Arctic. In Yakutia - in the basins of the Laptev and East Siberian seas. But they don't call him a tramp for nothing. In search of food, he makes long-distance migrations, sometimes getting on drifting ice floes to Iceland and southern Greenland. From there, along the western coast of Greenland, it goes under its own power to the islands of the Canadian Arctic.

Migration of polar bears

The nature of seasonal migrations of polar bears is closely related to changes in ice conditions. As ice melts and breaks, polar bears move northward, to the border of the Arctic Basin. With the onset of stable ice formation, the bears begin their reverse migration to the south.

Bear swimmers

The polar bear is able to chase a deer for half a kilometer, but it swims much better than it runs on land. A bear can swim over 80 miles at a time. Polar bears also dive well - it is common for them to dive under floating ice floes. The polar bear swims at speeds up to 6.5 km per hour and can stay underwater for up to 5 minutes. This allows him to move away for long distances from the coast, there are cases of meeting with an animal 100 km from the ice edge.

Hunts near the Great Siberian polynya

Most often, our polar bear hunts near the Great Siberian polynya. This is a year-round open water surface in the area of ​​the Laptev Sea adjacent to the Lena Delta. It attracts all arctic animals and birds, especially in winter. The main diet of the bear is sea hares and seals, if you're lucky - seals. A polar predator can endure prolonged hunger strikes, but on occasion it immediately eats up to 20 or more kilograms of meat and fat.

Live to eat

In order to maintain the necessary supply of fat, the polar bear must eat a lot of food. At one time he eats at least 45 kg of seal meat. Half of the calories are used to keep the body warm. Polar bears feed on seals, reindeer, walruses, and white whales. Berries, mushrooms and lichens and rare tundra vegetation serve as an addition to their diet. In general, bears are omnivorous, like foxes, badgers and mongooses. The polar bear prefers to stay among the floating ice or on fast ice at their edge, near polynyas and leads. Here, seals are the most numerous throughout the year, which serve as the main food for this predator (a bear hunts and eats up to 40-50 seals a year).

But polar bears do not drink water - they get the necessary moisture from their prey.

What do bears do

IN daytime polar bears roam in search of prey. The bear is inseparable from the kids, the grown-up cubs play, simulating a fight.

Not particularly lucky hunters

Although polar bears hunt almost all of their time. their hunting is successful only in 2% of all cases.

Aggressive polar bear

Aggressiveness peaks during the breeding season, when males fight over females. Bears, although half the size of males, attack them when protecting their offspring. More often it happens that fights can be avoided, and the fight is guarded only by a demonstration of aggressive postures. One of these postures can be observed when the bear rises on its hind legs and opens its mouth wide, exposing fangs. The fight continues until the first blood, after which, as a rule, it stops.

Polar bear vs whale

On rare occasions, beluga whales become trapped by drifting ice. They are forced to swim up to the polynyas that seals arrange for themselves in order to breathe air. In these cases, polar bears have a chance to attack the whales, exhausted by the struggle with the ice. When the whale swims up to the polynya, the bear attacks it, tears it with its claws and teeth - and wins.

Why bears have to be big

The larger the bear, the more opportunity she has to bring healthy offspring. for a male, weight also means a lot, a giant is more likely to find a girlfriend. It is known that bears are 1.2 - 2.2 times heavier than she-bears.

Lone Bears

Unlike other species, polar bears live alone.

Families and singles in the world of bears

Bears are family animals, the family group consists of a she-bear with cubs, between which for a long time the warmest relations are maintained. The cubs are born very small, weighing no more than a kilogram, for 40 days they remain blind, and the mother bear feeds them many times a day. She keeps them close to her, warming with her warmth. Except during the breeding season, the males are solitary and roam over vast areas in search of food. The mating season is short - from May to June. At this time, the males fight fiercely over the females. Couples are fragile, male and female can mate with several partners.

short family life

Females breed once every three years, mating occurs in March-May. The couple stay together for only a few days, during which time the partners continue to mate frequently. like other predatory Carnivora, the male has a ossified penis structure "baculum". by which the female is stimulated to ovulate. Mating can last 10 - 30 minutes, and during this time the partners cannot move away from each other. Fertilized eggs appear by September. Females give birth for the first time between 4 and 8 years of age and remain fertile until 21 years of age, with a peak between 10 and 19 years of age. There are usually 2 cubs in a litter, less often - 1, occasionally - 3.

Polar bears have delayed conception

Pregnancy lasts 190 - 260 days, such an interval is explained by the possibility of "delayed conception", that is, the embryo begins to develop in the mother's body not from the moment of her fertilization. Sperm is stored in her body until favorable conditions for breeding offspring.

Only females hibernate

Unlike other bears living in cold climates, polar bears do not usually hibernate for long periods of time. They rarely hibernate, with the exception of pregnant females, which hibernate every 2-5 years. The she-bear makes a lair in the snow. As a rule, this is a long tunnel leading to an oval-shaped chamber. In some cases, bears have additional tunnels and chambers.

Hibernation duration

Black, brown and polar bears hibernate and spend 3-5 winter months without food. In northern Alaska, bears hibernate for 7 months. The metabolic process at this time is slowed down, waste products are not excreted from the body. If we compare wintering bears with hibernating rodents, we get a similar picture. The body temperature of bears is higher than that of rodents. but the heart beats at a rate of 10 times per minute (normally 45). In the warm winter months, wintering bears leave the den for a while, then return to sleep.

polar bear cubs

… weigh less than 700 grams at birth. Polar bear cubs weigh only a tenth of the usual weight of cubs in other mammals of the same mass. The reason for this is the prolonged fasting of the mother, who does not feed all the time of pregnancy. As a result, the fetus receives nutrients from the mother's body, and not from the food she ingested. Compensation for the lack of nutrients is especially fatty bear milk, which in polar bears exceeds in calories all other relatives in the family. Usually, a female gives birth to two cubs, however, there have been cases of five cubs in one litter, only none of them survived. The bear cub stays in the den until it gains a weight of 8-9 kg. The cubs stay with their mother for two and a half years. Physical maturity occurs at the age of 5-6 years for females and 10-11 years for males, puberty - at the age of 5 years.

Not afraid of man

The polar bear is the only large land mammal that is not afraid of humans. He continues to pursue the hunters and after a severe wound, struck in the vital organs. Polar bears often do not pay attention to people - but this is only if they are not hungry and do not hope to profit from their prey.

Life span of bears

Mortality among adult bears is estimated at 8-16%, in immature 3-16%, in cubs 10-30%. The maximum life expectancy is 25-30 years, rarely more. There is evidence of a polar bear that has reached the age of 37 years.

The metabolic rate of a polar bear

The metabolic rate of the polar bear is obviously higher than that of the brown one. White also showed extraordinary resistance to low temperatures not only due to its perfect thermoregulation, but also because of the low "critical temperature". Even at -50 ° C, it does not observe a noticeable increase in the level of gas exchange, i.e., there is still no need to use the physiological mechanism of thermoregulation (“chemical”), associated with a large expenditure of energy

Polar bear breathing rate
The respiratory rate of the polar bear noticeably increases with increasing air temperature; at - 10 ... - 20 ° C it is 5.3, and at 20 ... 25 ° C - 30 per minute.

Body temperature of an adult polar bear
The body temperature of an adult polar bear, measured rectally, is 36.8-38.8 ° C (lower than that of a brown one); no diurnal changes in temperature were noted. The temperature of the skin surface, measured in calm weather, reaches 30-36 °C, and in the wind it drops to 27 °C. The difference between the temperatures under the skin and on its surface increases to 10-14 °C when the animal is in the water. The internal body temperature of cubs aged 2 to 8 months, measured using radio pills, varied from 37.4 ° C in dormant animals to 40 and 40.5 ° C when the animals moved uphill, and in swimming animals it was about 38.5 ° WITH.

Heart rate of an adult polar bear
The heart rate of an adult bear at rest is 50-80 per minute, while in an active state it can reach 130 per minute, during sleep it is reduced to 50 and during artificially induced hibernation - up to 27 per minute (for American brown and black bears in the latter case was reduced to eight)

Polar bear milk

Bear milk is very thick, fatty, with the smell of fish oil, contains 44.1% dry matter (including 1.17% ash, 31% fat, 0.49% lactose and 10.2% protein). By chemical composition it approaches the milk of cetaceans and pinnipeds. Milk fat contains 13.9% bituric, 22.6% palmetic and 33.4% oleic acids.

The content of hemoglobin in the blood of polar bear cubs ranges from 66 to 84%, erythrocytes - from 3.5 to 4.9 million, and leukocytes - from 5800 to 8300 per 1 mm3. Of the total number of leukocytes, 5% are neutrophils, 1.2 - eosinophils, 4 - basophils, 2-3 - monocytes, 34-40% - lymphocytes. In adult female bears, the leukocyte formula is different: stab neutrophils - 10 and segmented - 17%, eosinophils - 1, besophiles - 2, monocytes - 4 and lymphocytes - 60%
According to the general serological characteristics, the polar bear is very close to the brown one.

Evolution, taxonomy and variability of the polar bear

According to modern concepts, the genealogical tree of the bear family - Ursidae begins from the Middle Miocene from large representatives of the genus Ursavus, known from finds in Europe. In the Pliocene in Eurasia and North America, there were already 14 genera, or groups, of bears. In the Pleistocene, obviously, there were representatives of both all modern genera of bears, including the genus Thalassarctos Gray, and a number of others that have now become extinct.
The paucity of paleontological materials is the reason for the divergence of opinions of researchers about the antiquity of the divergence of the polar bear from the trunk of brown bears proper (no one doubts the latter). Most authors attribute the time of isolation of the polar bear to the early or middle Pleistocene (1.5 million years ago), or to the transitional era between the Pleistocene and Pliocene, and the immediate ancestor of the brown and polar bears is considered species Ursus etruscus Fale. generalized bear type. However, I. G. Pidoplichko admits its isolation already in the Pliocene (more than 2 million years ago).
In the languages ​​of the local indigenous population of the Arctic regions, the polar bear is called:
sira bogto, uloddade boggo, serwarka,
yavvy - in Nenets (north of the European part of the USSR and Western Siberia);
uryungage and khuryung-ege - in Yakut;
nebaty mamachan - in Evenk;
poinene-haha - in Yukagir;
umka and umky - in Chukchi;
nanuk, nyonnok and nanok - in Eskimo (northeast of Siberia, north of North America, Greenland).
The acquaintance of a person with a polar bear has as long a history as the human settlement of the coasts and islands of the northern seas, in the north of Europe it probably dates back to the Holocene, and in the north of Asia to the Paleolithic. The first written sources containing the mention of the polar bear also belong to very distant times. It became known to the Romans, apparently, in the 50s. ad. In Japanese manuscripts, living polar bears and their skins were first mentioned in 650, and the first information about these animals from Northern Europe(Scandinavia) date back to 880 AD. Later, living animals, their skins began to get to European rulers quite often.

How bears communicate

By studying polar bears, scientists have found that they prefer to stay alone. This does not apply to a family consisting of a bear with her offspring, they have a well-developed language for communication. If you hear a dull growl, it means that they warn relatives of the approaching danger. With the same sound, the bear drives others away from its prey. Begging for food from a more fortunate fellow, the bear approaches slowly, sways, then stretches nose to nose for a greeting ritual. As a rule, a polite request does not go unanswered, and after an exchange of courtesies, the relative is allowed to eat together. Young bears are very fond of playing, it is boring to play alone, therefore, inviting to fun, they shake their heads from side to side.

polar bear day

In winter, in some countries of the world, February 27 is the Day of the White Polar Bear. Based on data from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), this moment There are 20-25 thousand polar bears in the world. But due to many factors, by 2050 the population of this species may be reduced by two thirds. The polar bear is the most major representative detachment of predatory mammals on earth. In length, it reaches 3 meters, weighing up to 1000 kg. As a rule, males weigh 400-600 kg; body length 200-250 cm, height at the withers up to 160 cm. Females are noticeably smaller (200-300 kg). The smallest bears are found in Spitsbergen, the largest in the Bering Sea.

The polar bear is the largest representative of the predatory

Just think of the trials Mother Nature sometimes puts on her creatures. Getting acquainted with the way of life of some animals, one involuntarily asks the question: “How do they survive?” After all, they live where, it would seem, life is impossible, they are subjected to all sorts of hardships. Well, those who were not able to gain a foothold on the "edge of life" are weeded out by natural selection. Others, the most viable, live and prosper.
One of these winners is the polar bear, the eternal wanderer among the boundless polar expanses. In proud loneliness he reigns here, he has no equal. This bear is not at all like his fellow brothers living in southern countries, - neither in appearance, nor in habits, nor in terms of living conditions. But there is one sad similarity in which the bear is innocent. This inhabitant of the polar ice, like some club-footed inhabitants of the forests, has become rare in nature through the fault of man. It is included in the Red Book of the USSR, where it has category III of protection, and the IUCN.
The polar bear is the largest representative of the order of predatory mammals, the largest land predator. His body length reaches 3 m. Can you imagine if he stands on his hind legs? Impressive spectacle! The weight of large males sometimes reaches 800 kg. The physique of the polar bear is quite massive. At the same time, the “outline” of his body in some details is not bearish at all, probably because of his neck, which is long and movable. The legs are rather high, thick and powerful. The feet of the front paws are wide, their surface is additionally enlarged by overgrown dense hair. The fur is very thick and long, especially on the belly. The color is white, with a yellowish-golden hue along the

bears are herbivores or carnivores

1. omnivores!!
2. Browns are omnivores. Whites are predators
3. Bears are omnivores. They eat grass, berries, mushrooms, they will not refuse fish, especially meat, fatten up - they eat everything until they are completely stupefied.
   But pandas only eat bamboo, while polar bears prefer seal and seal fat.
4. predators of course
5. The bear is an omnivore, just like humans.
6. predators, but from hunger they can pick up raspberries and chew grass =)
7. 100% carnivorous predators, because they eat meat and hunt. Only carnivores can hunt and eat meat, first of all, and only then fish, mushrooms, nuts, honey, berries, grass, roots. But herbivores cannot eat meat.
8. omnivorous
9. omnivores
10. omnivorous
11. the bear is omnivorous. He eats almost everything that can be eaten. in the summer, plant foods predominate, most of the animal protein in the bear's diet is small animals. rodents. insects. the bear is engaged in hunting directly, especially hunting for large animals, extremely rarely only in the absence of more accessible and less “dangerous” food
12. Predators))
13. Differently
14. white bear, grizzly bear, spectacled bear and many other members of the bear family eat wild berries, nuts, honey, rodents, carrion, large mammals, and other plants. FROM THE ORDER THEY ARE PREDATORS. and here is a koala belonging to the family marsupial bears- herbivore bear.
15. Bears are omnivores. Basically, vegetable food they eat constantly, and the animal - only when it falls into their paws
16. Medve#769;zhy (lat. Ursidae) is a family of mammals of the order of carnivores. They differ from other representatives of the canine in a more stocky physique. Bears are omnivorous, climb and swim well, run fast, can stand and walk short distances on their hind legs. They have a short tail, long and thick hair, as well as excellent sense of smell and hearing. They hunt in the evening or at dawn. Usually fearful of humans, but can be dangerous in areas where they are used to humans, especially polar bears and grizzly bears. Immune to bee stings. In nature, they have almost no natural enemies.
17. Anatomically predatory. Teeth, then - with. And constantly on plant foods, he can not. But in recent years, in many regions, the bear is increasingly using plant foods. In this regard, its number is growing, in some places it is much larger than the wolf. That is, it sort of climbs off the top of the food pyramid.

The Bears considered the largest of the predators now living on our planet. Despite this, they are more often than others predatory mammals prefer plant foods over animal meats.

Bear appearance

Teeth and claws: The fangs of bears are quite powerful, as in other predatory animals. The molars have a flat, uneven, chewing surface. This is due to a mixed diet, bears eat both animal and plant foods. Each paw has five long toes with large and sharp claws that do not retract. With the help of this tool, bears dig out edible roots and fruits from the ground. In addition, with sharp claws, the predator tears the prey into small pieces.

Sense organs: Bears have small, set close to each other eyes. The fields of view of both eyes overlap, so the animal sees objects as three-dimensional. In general, bears have poor eyesight. Hearing is also not very well developed. The bear has a better sense of smell. The bear often stands up on its hind legs and turns its head around to explore its nose and get information about its surroundings.

Communication: Bears communicate with each other through sounds and body movements. For example, the position of an animal's ears conveys information about the owner's mood. Having met, the bears raise their heads to each other and growl without opening their mouths. The flat teeth of a bear will grind any food. A giant brown bear catches fish in the rivers.

Ways to travel: Bears have rather short limbs. They walk, leaning on the entire surface of the foot. The paws of bears are curved in the shape of the letter "O", so these animals are clubfoot and walk, waddling from side to side. But, when danger arises or when pursuing prey, bears are able to trot and even gallop. In case of danger, the bear stands on its hind legs. Cubs and adults of some species climb trees and swim, and the polar bear is the only mammal that swims only with the help of its forelimbs.
Body Structure: Various they differ in size, but their structure is similar: a powerful body, short strong paws, a massive head and a very short tail.

Coat: Bear hair comes in several types, ranging from the thick yellowish-white coat of the polar bear to the long, fluffy coat of the Gubach. The fur of most species of bears has a brown color, perfectly camouflages animals in the forest.

Did you know? That a giant brown bear living in North America is called "Kodiak" in other languages. This is the name of the island on which these representatives of the subspecies are found. A bear standing on its hind legs can reach up to 3 m in height.
The polar bear can be found in the open sea at a distance of 80 km from the coast.
Bears walk slowly, waddling, but if necessary, they can reach speeds of up to 50 km / h. The grizzly's menu is 80% plant based.

The ranges of the polar bear and arctic fox are located in the Far North. They are hardy mammals. Almost all bears are on the verge of extinction and are protected by law.
Once upon a time, many brown bears lived in Europe. Now their numbers have declined, but they still remain the most numerous species in the family. The polar bear in the past was an object of fishing. People ate his meat and sewed clothes from his skin.
The polar bear is better than other animals acclimatized in the permafrost area.

Seven species of bears, belonging to four genera, live mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. Only the spectacled bear lives in the south. All bears, with the exception of the polar bear, which inhabits the snow-covered Arctic deserts, are inhabitants of dense forests. Their only enemy is man. Now only two species of bears are not threatened with extinction.

Origin of bears

The first bear, the ancestor of all modern species of bears, (Ursavus), who lived on Earth 20 million years ago. It was the size of a small dog and inhabited the territory modern Europe, where at that time a hot subtropical climate dominated, rich in generous vegetation. Bears, along with foxes, dogs and raccoons, descend from their common ancestor - a small predator of the Miacidae family, who lived 30-40 million years ago and climbed trees. As a result of evolution, new types of bears arose, which gradually became larger, larger and stronger. Many, including the cave bear, which was larger than modern bears, died out. The youngest species in the family is the polar bear, which appeared 70,000 years ago.

1. Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus): body length 1.3-1.8 m. The only representative of the family in South America.
2. Malayan bear (Helarctos malayanus): body length 1-1.4 m. This small member of the family lives in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. Occurs rarely.
3. Gubach (Melursus ursinus): body length 1.4-1.8 m. Lives in the jungles of India and Sri Lanka. Herbivorous. It picks up termites and insects with its lips and tongue.
4. Polar bear (Ursus maritimus): body length 1.8-3 m. Inhabits the northern regions of the Arctic, feeds mainly on seals.
5. Brown bear (Ursus arctos): 2-3 m long, lives in North America, Europe and Asia. There are several subspecies: the grizzly bear, the giant brown bear, and the European brown bear.
6. Baribal, black bear (Ursus americanus): body length 1.3-1.8 m, found in the forests of North America. Like other members of the family, it eats a mixed diet.
7. White-breasted bear (Ursus thibetanus): body length 1.4-2 m. Lives in forests and spends most of its time in trees. It feeds on herbs, fruits and berries.

bear breeding

Bears live alone, meeting only during the breeding season. The mating period, depending on the species, falls on different time of the year. Some types of bears, in particular the Malayan, can breed throughout the year - they live in tropical rainforests, where they have enough food. In addition, the Malayan bear is monogamous. After mating, the male and female separate. Only the she-bear is engaged in the upbringing of the offspring.

The duration of pregnancy is 180-250 days and depends on the type of bears. The bear brood consists of 1-4 cubs, which are born blind, toothless, covered with sparse hair. They spend at least a year in the family nest, feeding on their mother's milk. The polar bear never lacks food and therefore does not fall into winter sleep. However, pregnant females and mothers with cubs fall into hibernation. In spring, the she-bear leaves the den, accompanied by fluffy and playful cubs. The cubs relentlessly follow her, learning to find food and recognize danger. Bears of various species reach sexual maturity at the age of 2.5-5 years.

Lifestyle of bears

Bears are territorial animals. Each individual is the owner of a fairly large area, controls where it hunts and hibernates. Females live with cubs for up to two years. Bears are avid loners, but in places rich in food, for example, in a berry meadow, several individuals can be found at once. When they are satisfied, they disperse. But the bear invaded someone else's territory, waiting for a meeting with the owner, which may end in a collision. The search for food takes a lot of time, so the bears are active both day and night. Bears sleep in disguised shelters - lairs, which are located in depressions under the roots of trees. The white-breasted bear builds a nest in a tree. Bears of the genus Ursus, living in cold climatic zones, hibernate in winter. Winter dream lasts from 78 to 200 days. The exact time depends on the area. During hibernation, bears make a lair for themselves among the windbreak, under the roots of trees, or dig it on the slopes of mountains and hills. They line and insulate their lairs with grass, leaves and moss. Bears go into long hibernation in order to survive the hungry winter period.