Picture of the day - October 24, 2005

Two Polar Bears Sparring

The artic region is home to one of the world's most beautiful and interesting animals - the polar bear. Polar bears are the largest bears living on the earth today. In fact, bears weighing as much as 1,700 pounds have been spotted! The typical polar bear spends the vast majority of its time on sea ice where it can easily catch seals - its preferred meal. While polar bears will eat most anything they can get their paws on when food is scarce, by-and-large they live on seals. And although they prefer staying on sea ice, they do occasionally get "land-locked" when the ice melts.   Since these amazing animals prefer to travel on sea ice, their normal range is limited to the frozen areas around the arctic circle. They can and do travel farther south during colder winters due to the expanded shelves of sea ice, but the farthest south they live year-round is James Bay, Canada. Up until the 1970's polar bears had been heavily hunted, and as a result their population had dwindled to the point where they were in danger of becoming extinct. In 1973, the five nations inhabited by polar bears (Canada, Greenland, Norway, the United States, and the former U.S.S.R.) signed the International Agreement On Conservation Of Polar Bears And Their Habitat. In doing so, they agreed upon a workable plan to conserve polar bear habitat and severely restrict hunting. This landmark agreement has helped the polar bear make a spectacular comeback, and today they once again roam the arctic in sustainable numbers. This means that if you take an arctic vacation you can easily see polar bears frolicking around in their native habitat!   Picture Of The Day Homepage | Submit a photo Interesting Articles