polar bear facts

1. Polar Bears
Endangered Animals Series
By Class 2-1
The St. Bartholomew School
2005

2. Table of Contents
 Description….What Do Polar Bears Look Like?……3
 Habitat………Where Do Polar Bears Live?…………4
 Life Span……How Long Do Polar Bears Live?…….5
 Threats………Why Are Polar Bears Endangered?…6
 Glossary……..Special Vocabulary…….….…………7

3. What Do Polar Bears Look Like?
Polar bears are big, strong, and fat. They are white, yellow, and sometimes
light brown. Male bears are larger than females and can weigh up to 1,500
pounds. All polar bears have fat under their fur and fur on the bottom of their
paws, so they won’t slip on the ice. The fat on a polar bear’s body can become
two to three inches thick.

4. Where Do Polar Bears Live?
Polar bears live in temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
They live in cold, icy places in the north, like Canada and Alaska.
They live in places with short summers and long winters.

5. How
Do
Polar
Bears
Live?
The two main focuses of this solitary creature's
life are to conserve energy and to hunt for food.
Their primary prey is the ringed seal, though they
also eat bearded, harp, and hooded seals, and the
occasional walrus. Polar bears can live to be 25
years old, and unlike many other types of bears,
polar bears do not hibernate in the winter.

6. Why Are Polar Bears Endangered?
Polar bears are
endangered for many
reasons. One reason is
water pollution. When
polar bears eat prey
that live in water
polluted by oil spills and
other kinds of pollution,
they get sick and die.
Another major reason
that polar bears are
endangered are
hunters.
Hunters kill polar bears to make coats and rugs from their fur.

7. Glossary
 endangered: At risk of becoming extinct.
 habitat: The environment, for example, a forest, a desert, or
wetlands, in which a plant or animal lives.
 prey: Animals that are caught and eaten by other animals.
 hibernate: To be in a sleeplike, dormant, state over the winter,
where an animal experiences a decrease in body
temperature and pulse rate, and survives off of
reserves of body fat.

8. Save The Polar Bears
Keep Their Environment Clean