Question; How did the polar bear become the rock star of the animal kingdom? The answer may be that around the world millions of otherwise ordinary people have developed a serious case of polar bear fever. It afflicts photographers, environmentalists, eco-tourists and ordinary citizens who can’t bear the thought that this magnificent solitary creature may be in trouble.
This the story of a creature that can be considered a treasure, or a trophy. It follows the polar paparazzi as they wait in bone-chilling weather to capture the holy grail of polar bear images - a mother and her cubs emerging from the den. And Polar Bear Fever joins the annual circus that descends on the polar bear capital of the world to watch the celebrities of the animal kingdom in their annual trek to the sea ice.
FOR EDUCATORS
NEWS UPDATE
(Read the CBC.ca news story)
POLAR BEAR FACTS
- Species Name: Ursus Maritimus
- Common Names: polar bear, sea bear, ice bear, white bear, nanook
- The polar bear is the largest living land carnivore.
- Average weight: Males, 350 - 600 kg, Females, 150 - 400 kg, but can be as much as 500 kg when they enter their dens to give birth.
- Standing height: Males can be as tall as 10 feet.
- Lifespan: 20-25 years.
- Colour: Their hairs are hollow tubes so they are transparent. Their tongues are black/purple.
- Top running speed: 40 kilometers per hour.
- Mating age: males 3-5 years and females 4-5. They reproduce every 3 years.
- Countries with polar bears: Canada (2/3rds of the world's population) Russia, Greenland, Norway and the US/Alaska
- Polar bears have been recorded travelling more than 3,000 km.
- A polar bear is so well insulated that its body heat is virtually invisible to a heat sensor.
- Polar bear mothers stay with the cubs about 2 and a half years.
- Inuit hunters report that the polar bear covers its black nose when stalking a seal or waiting for a seal to surface at a breathing hole so the seal can't see it.