TINA TYLER
5-21-01
808
POLAR BEARS

I am going to tell you about the animal that I did research on; i polar bears. I am going to tell you about their every day life. I am also going to tell you about their diet, habitat, their birth and care of young,  behaviors, longevity, reprouduction and senses.


                                            DIET AND EATING HABITS

 On occasion polar bears kill young walruses and beluga whales. When other food is unavailable polar bears eat reindeer, small rodents, seabirds, ducks, fish, and eggs.

                                                   HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION

 Polar bears are found near the north pole. The polar bear's southern range is limited by the amount of sea ice that forms in winter, Polar bears  prefer to travel on sea ice.

                                                BIRTH AND CARE OF YOUNG

polar bear cubs take 8 months to be born.The cubs are born from november through january in a den.The mother and cubs come out from their den in late march or april. Most adult females give birth once every three years. In some groups of polar bears, birth occurs once every two years.

                                                        BEHAVIOR

 Polar bears are most active the first third of  the day [morning] and least active the final third of the day [evening] when they're not hunting for food, polar bears are often sleeping or resting.

                                      LOVGEVITY AND CAUSE OF DEATH
 polar bears can  live 20 to 30 years but only a small number of polar bears live past 15 to 18 years. The oldest known polar bear in the north pole area  lived 32 years. The oldest known polar bear in a zoo lived 41 years.

                                                     REPRODUCTION
The female polar bear's sexual maturity[when it starts mating] is about 4 years old.Male polar bears reach sexual at about 6 years.Most polar bears don't successfully mate until 8 to 10 years or older.

                                                               SENSES
A polar bear's hearing  is probably as sensitive as human hearing. Humans can hear sounds with frequencies as low as 0.02 khz. Polar bears sense of smell is strong and it is the most important sense for detecting prey. A polar bear can smell a seal more than 32 km [20mi] away.