What do Polar Bears Eat

Polar bears are the largest bears in the world and live in the Arctic region. Though they are related to the brown bear, many features of this animal have evolved for them to adapt to the harsh conditions of the Arctic. As polar bears spend most of their time in the sea, they are also considered as marine mammals and are otherwise known as 'maritime bear'. These giant bears are the largest carnivores of the bear family. Polar bear adaptations enable them to move across the ice, land, and sea and hunt prey. Polar bears are excellent hunters and their white coat helps them to hide in snow while hunting. They can wait for hours to catch a prey and one of the polar bear myths is that they cover their noses in the snow while waiting.

What do Polar Bears Eat?

Polar bears adorn the position of top predators in the Arctic food chain. The staple and primary food of polar bears are seals. The polar bear population mainly feeds on ringed and bearded seals. Seals are plenty in the Arctic and they are hunted when they come out to rest on the ice, or when they surface through ice holes to breathe. Adult polar bears eat the seal's skin and the fatty layer beneath the skin, which is known as blubber. The protein rich red meat is consumed by the younger bears and other animals like Arctic foxes, and ravens. The sub adults, who live separately from their mothers, also get sufficient nutrition from these carcasses. Even if these sub adults hunt and catch prey, they may not be able to defend the adult polar bears, who feed on the prey first and leave the half-eaten carcass for the sub adults. One of the interesting facts about polar bears is that they are so hygienic that they have the habit of washing themselves with water or snow after feeding.

Apart from seals, polar bears also prey on adult walruses and beluga whales. Polar bears can also live without food for several months. It has been observed that these animals fast for several months during the early autumn and late summer. During these times, the sea is not frozen, making it impossible for these bears to hunt seals. They fast during these months and live off the fat reserves in their body.

Polar bears also feed on many other wild food like rodents, shellfish, crabs, reindeer, muskox, birds, eggs, and even other polar bears. They are also found to eat plant material like berries, roots, and seaweeds. However, the major chunk of their food consists of fat and meat of marine mammals like seals, as they do not get sufficient amount of calories from terrestrial food. It is also seen that these animals can be scavengers and consume garbage if they enter places with human inhabitants. They can feed on anything dumped by humans, like car batteries, plastic, etc.

Hunting Habits of Polar Bears

The hunting area of polar bears are primarily the interface between air, water and ice. It is very rare to see a polar bear hunting for a seal on land or in open water. They adopt a method called 'still hunting' to catch prey. They use their smelling talents to locate seals. These bears can smell the breath of seals and wait near ice holes where the seals surface to breathe. As the seal breathes out air, the polar bear smells it and uses its forepaw to reach into the hole and drag the seal out to the ice surface. Once the seal is taken out, the bear bites into the skull of the seal to kill it. Polar bears can also hunt seals resting on the ice. Upon seeing such seals, the polar bear walks to a spot about 100 yards away from the seals. Then they crouch another 40 feet towards the seal and attack the prey. Another hunting method is by attacking the birth layers made by the female seals in the snow. In case of whales, the same method is adopted by the polar bears. They swipe at the whales, when they surface at breathing holes. It is very rare for the polar bears to attack an adult walrus, which is very big in size. In case of land animals, polar bears, being heavy, cannot outrun the speedier animals. The same thing happens in case of many marine animals as well, as they can swim faster than the polar bears. This is one of the reasons why the diet of polar bears consists mainly of seals.

These fabulous animals are categorized as a 'vulnerable' species, as they may become endangered in the near future. Polar bear life cycle is affected by many factors, the most important among them being global warming. Global warming is affecting its habitat, by depleting the ice layers. Now that we know what do polar bears eat, we must restrict our activities to ensure them an uninterrupted food supply.