Polar Bears

The different adaptations of the Polar Bears and Brown Bears

Polar Bears:

Polar bears mainly eat seals

Paw pads with rough surfaces help stop the Polar Bears from slipping on the ice

Polar Bears don’t swim

The polar bear's fat layer, which is three to four inches thick, not only protects it from the cold

A polar bear is so well insulated that it experiences no heat loss. The bear's blubber layer can measure 4.5 inches thick.

Polar bears have excellent underwater vision. They can spot food up to 15 feet away.

They have sharp claws and teeth to eat prey

Their ears have small surface area compared to body, reduces heat loss

Thick white fur for camouflage and insulation

Long legs for running to catch prey

Brown Bears:

They have thick insulating coats and tend to be large which helps them to keep their body heat

They hibernate during winter.

They have sharp claws and teeth which help them attack their prey.

Adult brown bears are powerful; much of their diet consists of nuts, berries, fruit, leaves and roots. Bears also eat other animals.

Brown bears can be recognized by their most distinctive feature, their shoulder hump. The shoulder muscle helps the bears to dig up roots and tear apart logs to find food. These muscles are located in the ‘hump’ of the brown bear. Brown bears can move rocks and logs and dig through hard soil and rocky ground using their long sharp claws when making their dens.

They eat grass, fruit, insects, roots and bulbs of plants.