Today on Earth there are quite a few species of animals that require special attention for the reason that they become rare and in the near future they may be threatened with extinction. Animals such as polar bears are also included in this group. The Red Book is designed to keep records of rare and endangered species of animals, some of its pages are devoted to the polar bear.
Polar Bear Habitats
This type of animal is already interesting because its representatives live in places that are not very suitable for life. It is about the Arctic with its harsh climate. Low air temperatures, long winters, polar nights did not become an obstacle for a polar bear.
The expanses of the Arctic Ocean with its lifeless islands, the northern outskirts of Eurasia and North America are the places where the polar bear lives.
The Red Book, various encyclopedias and many other sources, providing information about this animal, indicate its significant difference from other species of bears that live on the planet. On certain features of the animal, even its name can indicate. From the language of some peoples or scientific sources it is known that the animal is called differently - sea, northern, polar bear.
Evolutionary paths
Scientists have long believed that the development paths of a polar and brown bear diverged about a hundred and fifty thousand years ago. And this happened in the area of the planet that modern Ireland occupies. But data from recent studies have forced a change in this point of view. Today, science says that the separation of species happened much earlier - an average of about six hundred thousand years ago. Over this long period, animals appeared to have differences related not only to habitat, nutritional conditions, but also to their appearance, although the genetic material indicates that these animals once had a common ancestor.
The sad fact that all bears today are Red Book animals is also common . The polar bear, brown, Himalayan and other species of these unique animals need protection that only humans can give them. Although, it was he who became the main reason for the reduction in their numbers on Earth.
You can learn all about the polar bear, as well as its relatives, on the pages of numerous publications, which contain the research of scientists, stories of people who met in nature with these unique and at the same time very dangerous animals.
I must say that the meeting did not always end happily, without sad consequences, if a person and a polar bear became its participants. The Red Book therefore appeared because people sometimes tried to prevent the actions of a predator and destroyed it before he himself attacked a person or his dwelling. But the actions of people were not always reasonable enough, and as a result, this led to a reduction in the number of individuals of the polar bear.
Appearance and structural features of the body
A long neck, a flat head are the main difference between a polar bear and a brown bear in the structure of the body. The limbs of the animal have a pillar-like appearance. Feet are very wide. This helps the bears to move through deep snow without falling through. Due to the special structure of the foot and the fact that they are covered with wool, polar bears can easily move along the ice surface. Despite the huge body weight, they easily overcome hummocks up to two meters high.
The bear's skin color is black, and the skin is white to yellowish in color. Bear’s coat acquires such a color in the summer, when exposure to sunlight is especially pronounced.
Species of polar bears
The species of animals that live in different regions of the vast territory of the Arctic have differences among themselves. The largest polar bears live on the islands of the Bering Sea. Individual individuals have a weight of about 1000 kilograms with a body length reaching three meters.
Most existing species of polar bears reach 450 kilograms of weight at a height of about two meters. Females are slightly smaller than males. Their weight averages about 300 kilograms.
Svalbard Islands - the habitat of the smallest-sized representatives of these formidable animals, such as polar bears. The Red Book has taken under protection all existing species of bears living in the Arctic.
Adaptability to life in the Arctic
The Red Book of Russia is particularly concerned about the owner of the icy deserts . The polar bear lives only in the Arctic, most of which belongs to the Russian state. In addition, polar bears are found on the mainland of Eurasia in the area of ice deserts.
In other places on Earth, the polar bear does not live. There are cases when animals on ice floes fell into warmer climatic conditions, and this caused them great problems.
How did the animal adapt to such harsh living conditions in the Arctic? Firstly, the body is covered with thick fur. Secondly, the structure of the wool contributes to air retention in them, which makes the fur warmer. A significant layer of fatty tissue also saves the animal's body from hypothermia. In the most severe season, its thickness is about ten centimeters.
With such thermal insulation, bears are not afraid of storms, nor severe frosts, nor the icy water of the ocean and the northern seas. Polar bears are great swimmers. In search of prey, they can swim up to 80 kilometers per day. In this they are helped by the special structure of the paws, between the fingers of which there are membranes. When swimming, the limbs of the animal work like flippers.
What is the food of the polar bear
The polar bear is a predator, so it eats the meat of animals that live next to it. The bear hunts both in water and on land. With smaller animals, such as seal, the predator easily copes in water. He stuns the victim with a paw blow and pulls it onto the ice.
Rivalry with walrus is only possible on land for the polar bear. The skin of a killed animal and fat are the main delicacy for a predator. If there is no severe hunger, then the bear leaves the meat intact, it is eaten by other smaller predators.
Reasons for the reduction in the number of animals
Any person who tries to find out everything about a polar bear will easily find information that one bear in its life is capable of producing no more than fifteen cubs. When feeding offspring, the death of young animals is inevitable - harsh living conditions make themselves felt. Comparing these two facts, it is easy to assume that a reduction in the number of animals is possible for natural reasons.
To this we must add the facts of illegal hunting, the object of which is increasingly becoming polar bears. The Red Book of our country and other countries of the world is trying to stop the process of reducing the number of these animals.
Animals of the Red Book of the Russian Federation
The polar bear, along with other animals, has been under state protection since 1956. In Russia, hunting for him is completely prohibited. In countries such as Canada, USA, it is limited.
For a population living in the northern regions of the Earth, polar bears have long been an object of hunting. The Red Book of States interested in maintaining an animal population has tried to make a difference.
The meat and skin of bears, for the sake of which they were destroyed, in the modern world are not the only source of food available to humans, the material used to equip homes, make clothes. Therefore, the hunt for bears has ceased to be regarded as a necessity. She qualifies as poaching and is prosecuted.
As a result of the measures taken, a rare animal - a polar bear - was saved. The Red Book published a description of the abundance and population types in 1993. By this time, not only restoration of individuals was noted, but also a slight increase in the number of animals.