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Polar Bear
The great white bear of the Arctic — the largest land carnivore, built for the ice, and a stark symbol of a warming world.
How to spot it
The largest land carnivore — a huge bear in thick creamy-white fur over black skin, with a long neck, small ears and big furred paws that work like snowshoes and paddles. A large male can weigh well over half a tonne.
Where it lives
The sea ice and coasts of the Arctic, around the North Pole. It depends on the ice as a platform to hunt from, ranging over enormous distances as the ice shifts with the seasons.
What it eats
A true carnivore living mainly on seals — waiting by breathing holes or stalking across the ice, guided by an extraordinary sense of smell. When the ice melts it must fast, sometimes for months.
Behaviour & life
Mostly solitary and a powerful swimmer, at home in freezing water. Females den in the snow to give birth, nursing tiny cubs through the polar winter before leading them out onto the ice.
Conservation
Classed as Vulnerable and the emblem of climate concern — as Arctic sea ice shrinks, bears have less time and space to hunt. Its Arctic home could hardly be further from India; here it is seen only in wildlife films.
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