Cubs Corner
Hi, I’m a polar bear cub, and this is my twin sister. Thanks for coming to visit! We can’t wait to tell you all about our lives as polar bears.
Where We Live
We live in the Arctic, which is at the top of the Earth around the North Pole. It is really cold here, usually around -30º Fahrenheit. Most of this area is ocean, but since it is so cold the ocean is covered with ice for most of the year.
What We Look Like
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| US Fish and Wildlife Service photo |
It may be cold here, but my brother and I have bodies that are made for this weather. Our skin is actually black, and has a layer of blubber, basically a layer of fat that insulates us (keeps us warm) and helps us float more easily in water. We have thick fur that coats our bodies and looks white in the snow, but yellowish in the summer. We are the biggest meat eating mammals and when my brother is fully grown he could weigh anywhere from 800 to 1400 pounds, and be as big as nine feet long! This would make him ten feet tall when standing on two legs! Females are a little smaller, so I will weigh about half as much as my brother and grow to be about six feet long.
Our First Home 
When our mom knew she was going to have us, she started looking for a place to dig our den. She chose a nice, stable spot on land and dug a great big hole, then settled in there for the winter. She had to eat a lot in the summer and fall so that she could have enough food reserves to last her the whole winter and still have enough for when my sister and I were born.
When We Were Born
My brother and I were born together in December, just like many other polar bear cubs are. We were so small that we could have fit in the palm of a human hand! We couldn’t hear or see, and we had only a tiny amount of fur. We were so small and helpless that we stayed in the den with our mother for the next three months. She kept us safe and warm and fed us her milk so that we didn’t get hungry.
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US Fish and Wildlife Service photo
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Exploring Our Arctic Home 
In March, when we had already spent three months in the den, my sister and I were finally able to leave! By this time, we were each the size of a human baby and had a full coat of fur! Our mom showed us how to hunt for food and protect ourselves from danger. My sister and I used to practice on each other, wrestling and having fun. We will stay with our mom until we are three years old, but then it will be time for us to each go out on our own. Cubs stay with their moms while they are growing up, but then as adults they spend most of their life alone when they aren’t mating or raising new polar bear cubs!
How We Get Our Lunch
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| US Fish and Wildlife Service photo |
My sister and I are very strong swimmers and we will be able to swim about six miles per hour when we are fully grown! Right now we swim from ice floe to ice floe while looking for food, just like our mom taught us. We have a very good sense of smell, and we can even detect seals through three feet of snow! We sniff out the seals and then grab them when they come to the surface of the water at breathing holes. We also grab seals when they are resting on ice floes. But when we can’t find seals to eat, we eat walrus, small whales like bowhead whales, birds, and vegetation.
We Need Your Help
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| US Fish and Wildlife Service photo |
Polar bears are powerful animals, but there are only 20,000-25,000 polar bears in the world right now. The biggest threat to our survival is global warming. Global warming is the increase in temperature at the Earth’s surface and oceans. This is especially dangerous to us because the temperatures in the Arctic are rising and causing the ice in our home to melt. When the ice melts we have to swim farther and farther to find the ice that we use when hunting for food. This tires us out and forces us to use a lot of energy to find food. According to polar bear scientists at the United States Geological Survey, more and more cubs like us are dying. Young cubs and adult males are also smaller than they used to be.
Environmental groups and members of Congress are trying to help. Polar bears are now listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, which is an important first step in trying to save us and our icy home.
Want to learn even more about polar bears? Try these sites:
National Geographic
Fun pictures, video, and maps
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/CreatureFeature/Polar-bear
San Diego Zoo
Watch and learn about the polar bears that live at the San Diego Zoo
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/ex_polar_bear_plunge.html
Polar Bears International
A printable board game to help learn about polar bears
http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/polar-bear-trek-board-game/
Gander Acadamy’s Polar Bear Information
Fact sheets and activities for elementary school students
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/pb_primary.htm
Nuremberg Zoo
Information, video, and photos on Flocke, a polar bear cub at the Nuremberg Zoo
http://www.nuernberg.de/internet/polarbear/
Photo Gallery
