Polar Bear Diet

Polar bears. White, furry, wild things that inspire pure awe. They definitely are not relegated to the cute 'teddy bear' image, that's for sure. Who came up with that anyway? Innocent little Winnie the Pooh and all them other cuteness personified bears - where did the wild bears/grizzly bears image go? If you research the topic of bears well, you'll know that bears are one of the most dangerous creatures to inhabit earth. But I stray - we are talking about polar bears today and I just wanted to clarify that they might look all sleek and suave but they are dangerous just as well. In the following article we shall look at the diet of a polar bear and what some of the factors that influence their diet and eating habits are. So if you've ever been curious about this topic, read the following article and I shall try to dispel all your doubts and bring in some clarity by giving you certain facts on polar bears.

Diet of Polar Bears

Polar bears are carnivorous animals that need their daily intake of fat to survive in the cold climate of the North pole. Primarily, the polar bear's habitat influences its food choices. It has been studied that polar bears need about 2 kg of fat per day in order to get the required energy that will allow them to carry forth their daily activities. There are plenty of energy sources that the bear will tap into in order to get the required dietary supplements. Let us take a look at some of the things that a polar bear thrives on.

Seals
Ringed or bearded seals are the most sought after meat for a polar bear. But they might also hunt for harp, hooded, and ribbon seals. Seals have a high storage of fat and are one of those energy rich food sources that helps the bears build insulation. The polar bear is often described as lipophillic which mean fat loving. They are able to gorge on large amounts of seal meat at one time if there is abundance of seals. Seals are an absolute favorite choice to make for new mothers and their cubs because it provides the required energy as well as insulation, as I mentioned earlier. A polar bear can smell a seal from miles away. When he sees a seal come up for air, it will get onto the ice platform on all fours and slowly makes its way to the prey - A bear needs to be on an ice platform to be able to hunt for seals. It will grab the seal by its claws and proceed to bite it several times before killing it and devouring the meat.

Whales
Polar bears are not really fussy about their diet and are rather scavengers at heart - they will feed on whales as well. While hunting whales is not usually possible, they might sometimes be successful at it. They will however eat the carcass of different types of whales like Beluga whales, Gray whales and Bow-head whales.

Others
A polar bear's diet also includes some of the following meat types:

• Walruses
• Rodent
• Narwhals
• Reindeer
• Waterfowl
• Muskox
• Seabirds
• Shellfish
• Fish
• Berries
• Eggs
• Kelp
• Vegetation

Contrary to popular belief, not all the attempts that a polar bear makes at hunting are successful. In fact only about 2 out of the 5 attempts bear fruit. A bear has been known to throw temper tantrums when the hunt is not successful. And since the efforts are not always successful, they probably eat such great amounts at one time. An interesting fact is that they will proceed to thoroughly clean themselves after a meal, even bathing and sleeping to maintain that white coat. Finicky. Now do you know what the polar bear diet consists of? I surely do.