What is the conservation status of the Polar Bear?

The Polar Bear is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

Where is the Polar Bear found?

The Polar Bear is found in Canada, United States, Russia, Norway, Denmark (Greenland).

Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) — Conservation Status & How to Help

About the Polar Bear

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is the world's largest land carnivore, native to the Arctic sea ice across five countries: Canada, the United States (Alaska), Russia, Norway (Svalbard), and Greenland (Denmark). Adults are highly specialized for life on sea ice, with water-repellent fur, partially webbed feet, and a metabolism that can shift dramatically depending on food availability. They are classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with the global population estimated at 20,000 to 31,000 individuals as of the most recent IUCN assessment.

Polar bears sit at the top of the Arctic marine food web, feeding primarily on ringed seals (Pusa hispida) and bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus), which they hunt from the surface of sea ice. The accelerating loss of Arctic sea ice driven by climate change is the single greatest long-term threat to the species, reducing the time bears can spend hunting and forcing longer fasting periods on land. Secondary pressures include industrial development in the Arctic, shipping traffic through previously frozen routes, and the bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants, which concentrate in the fat that bears depend on for survival.

Things worth knowing

Polar bear fur is not actually white; each hair shaft is transparent and hollow, and the fur appears white or yellowish because it scatters visible light.
A polar bear's layer of body fat can measure up to 4.5 inches (11 cm) thick, serving as both thermal insulation and an energy reserve during food-scarce periods.
Females give birth in snow dens, typically to twins, and cubs remain with their mothers for roughly two and a half years learning essential hunting skills.
Arctic sea ice extent has declined at a rate of approximately 13 percent per decade since 1979, according to NASA satellite records, directly shrinking the habitat polar bears rely on to hunt.
Polar bears have an acute sense of smell and can detect a seal's breathing hole in the ice from nearly a kilometer away.
The southern Hudson Bay subpopulation in Canada is one of the most studied groups and has shown documented declines in body condition linked to earlier sea ice breakup in spring.

Polar Bear

Things worth knowing

0 organizations protect the Polar Bear