Polar Bear Basics

• Adult male bears weigh anywhere from 775 - 1200 lbs
• Adult female bears weigh anywhere from 330 - 650 lbs
• The Arctic as well as five other nations have polar bear populations: US (Alaska), Canada, Russia, Greenland, and Norway
• A mother usually has 2 cubs, but can have 1 or 3 depending on her health
• Cubs stay with their mothers for 2 - 2.5 years before they're on their own
• Their main diet consists of the ringed seal, but occasionally they will hunt a trapped whale or a sleeping walrus
• Polar bears only eat the seal's blubber, they actually leave the muscle and organs for other scavengers as they lack interest in it
• They can eat 100 lbs of blubber in a single sitting
• Their diet consists of feasting (all winter) and fasting (all summer)
• Walk at about 5-6 km/hr 
• Run up to 40 km/hr, but only for short distances as they quickly overheat
• Newborns are born 12-14 inches long and weigh little over one pound, but they grow very rapidly thanks to their mother's milk
• Polar bears have to layers of fur and up to 4.5" of fat that provide perfect insulation. Their metabolic rate doesn't even change when it is -34 degrees outside. They have the same body temperature that a human does.