Polar Bears

The polar bear, descended from the brown bear, can weigh between 400-680 kilograms (880-1,500 pounds) and can be from 2-3 metres (6-10 feet) long. There are at least 22,000 of these amazing creatures worldwide. And what makes them so amazing?

This beautiful creature has long body fur and a thick layer of blubber to protect it from the cold. They have furry soles on their paws and curved claws for hunting and walking in the frosty snow. They are great swimmers, swimming up to 6mph and holding their breath for up to 2 minutes.

Their habitat is in the Arctic and Canada, although it is also found sometimes in other places around the globe. It has 1-3 cubs but it is a solitary animal and mostly lives alone living for up to 25 years.

But this beautiful creature is endangered! Climate change is one of the factors affecting this mammal. With the Earth heating up the ice caps in the Arctic melt and the packed ice they live on melts too. This causes problems as the polar bear catches its prey on the packed ice which makes food difficult to get.

Pollution from man-made chemicals are also endangering these beautiful creatures. There are charities such as WWF (World Wildlife Fund) working to get new legislations passed for less carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Also oil exploration in the Arctic causes problems. When searching for oil, damage is caused to the polar bears environment.

And yet another factor which is affecting these great creatures is that they are being hunted for their fur and meat.

It’s tragic that such a beautiful animal is endangered. What can we do?

Well charities such as WWF make it possible to adopt these beautiful animals. This gives charities enough funds to track polar bears and monitor them and their environment.

The polar bear has always been one of my favourite animals. Hopefully we will never see the day when they no longer exists.

- Rebecca, 16, Northern Ireland