Animal Facts - Polar Bear

Polar Bear Predators

Polar Bears are the largest and fiercest animals in the Arctic. They run fast and defend themselves with their claws and teeth.

They are hunted only by humans.

The Inuit people have lived with Polar Bears for thousands of years and they hunt them for food and to make clothes from their skin. They have never over-hunted (taken more animals than they need).

When it became easier to travel to the Arctic, many other people killed Polar Bears as a trophy, or prize. In the late 1970s scientists said there weren’t enough Polar Bears left and the bears were added to the endangered species list.

Humans now also drill for oil and gas in the Arctic and the Polar Bear’s habitat has become threatened by pollution and global warming.

In 2008 Polar Bears were listed as being threatened with extinction.

Today scientists are monitoring changes at the North Pole because glaciers and ice floes are melting more quickly than before.

We have a lot to learn about the impact of human activities, including gas and oil production and more people visiting the Arctic as tourists.

Although Polar Bears are now protected from over-hunting, they could become extinct because their habitat is threatened.

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