Just for Fun: Bear-illiant Facts About Polar Bears For International Polar Bear Day
Today is International Polar Bear Day so we’ve hunted down our favourite facts about these amazing bears. Plus, learn why Stikins® name labels are black and white in colour (just like polar bears!).
Bear-illiant Facts About Polar Bears For International Polar Bear Day
The 27th February is International Polar Bear Day. This date marks the time when mother polar bears and their cubs are huddled in their snow dens, which is when cubs are most vulnerable. To celebrate International Polar Bear Day, we’ve been on a bear (fact) hunt. Did you know that:
- Polar bears are classified as marine mammals because they rely on the ocean for their food (mostly seals) and habitat (mostly sea ice).
- Polar bears have had many names, including white bear, ice bear, and Greenland bear. Their scientific name is Ursus Maritimus, which means sea bear.
- Polar bears are closely related to brown bears. The two species can mate and produce hybrids, which are called “grolar bears” or “pizzly bears”.
- Polar bears have evolved to keep warm in the Arctic. They have a layer of fat (called blubber), which is up to 11cm thick. This keeps them warm and provides a store of energy. On top of this is two layers of fur. The bottom layer, called underfur, is made up of shorter hairs (around 5cm) that are dense and woolly. This layer traps air close to the polar bear’s skin, which prevents heat escaping and provides a barrier against the cold. The top layer of guard hairs (around 15cm) are oily and hollow. The oil repels water, while the hollow hairs trap air and direct UV light down to the bear’s skin. Polar bears also have small ears and a small tail to reduce heat loss.
- Polar bears are so good at keeping warm, they end up overheating! To keep a constant body temperature, polar bears control blood flow through their circulatory system to allow extra heat to escape from their extremities. They may also take a dip in the Arctic to cool down faster.
- A polar bear’s fur is not white. Polar bears have transparent fur that contains no colour pigments. The hollow guard hairs reflect light, which results in a white appearance. This helps them to blend in with their snowy surroundings.
- Polar bears have black skin. This colour is extremely effective at absorbing light and heat and contains lots of melanin, which protects against UV radiation.
- Polar bears are built for travelling on snow and ice. They have extremely large front paws, which are up to 30cm wide. They also have papillae (small bumps) on the bottom of all of their paws. This allows them to spread their weight and provides grip on slippery ice. They also have small claws that are sharp and hooked. This helps them grip onto ice (and prey!).
- Polar bears are the only carnivores amongst bear species (other bears are omnivores and eat both meat and plants). Polar bears mostly eat seals but will also eat birds and land mammals. Sometimes they eat algae and berries, which is why they are also known as hypercarnivores (at least 70% of their diet is meat).
- While polar bears are mostly solitary (aside from mating season and mothers with cubs), they do sometimes share food. When a polar bear wants share another bear's food, it will ask permission by approaching slowly and touching noses with the other bear.
- After eating, polar bears often spend around 15-20 minutes cleaning themselves. This may including licking their paws and bodies clean, taking a short swim, or rolling in snow.
- Polar bears have an excellent sense of smell. They can smell prey from up to 20 miles away and can even smell prey beneath up to 1m of snow or ice from just over half a mile away.
- Polar bears are excellent swimmers. They use their large front paws to paddle and their (slightly) smaller hind paws to steer and dive. They can swim at up to 6 miles per hour and can swim for days at a time. The longest recorded swim by a polar bear took over 9 days and covered around 426 miles. They can also dive to around 14m deep and stay underwater for just over 3 minutes. To help them stay underwater, their nostrils automatically seal shut.
- While polar bears have a normal speed of around 3mph on land, they can reach up to 25mph over short distances (before overheating!).
- Polar bears are the largest species of bear and the largest land carnivore. Male polar bears are usually twice as big as females; they can grow up to 2.5m long and weigh up to 800kg. Females grow up to 2m long and weigh up to 300kg.
- While adult polar bears are impressively large, baby polar bears are surprisingly tiny. Cubs are usually born around 30cm long and just over half a kilogram in weight. For comparison, the average human baby is around 50cm long and around 3.5kg. A baby polar bear is born with very fine fur and pink skin. Their eyes remain closed for around a month.
- Polar bear milk contains up to 48.8% fat, which is the same as double cream. Cubs feed up to six times a day and put on around 20 to 30 times their initial weight in their first five months.
- Only pregnant polar bears hibernate. They dig maternity snow dens between September and October and hibernate before giving birth around November to January. The mother and her cubs stay in their den for 4-5 months. Polar bears usually have two cubs per litter, which tend to stay with their mother for around 2 years.
- Polar bears can be found in the Arctic, Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Russia, and Norway. Sadly, there are now only around 22,000-31,000 polar bears left in the wild.
Learn Why Stikins® Name Labels Are Black And White
Why are Stikins® name labels like polar bears? Because they’re both black and white!
Stikins® name labels are bright white in colour and personalised with a bold black font. We use this classic colour combination because…
- Black and white is the clearest possible colour combination for name labels. Black text on a white font is super clear and really easy to read. This means it takes seconds to identify who owns what. It also makes Stikins® suitable for children of all ages, including younger children who may just be starting to learn to read.
- Black and white is the most practical colour combination. These colours are suitable for children and adults, making Stikins® a universal name labelling solution suitable anyone and everyone! While Stikins® are mostly used to label children's school uniform and kit, they are also used by businesses, organisations, and residential or nursing homes.
- Black and white is the fastest colour combination! While you could order name labels that let you pick a background colour, font colour, font size, font style, and icon, this takes more time. With our simple colour combination, you can order Stikins® in minutes. It also speeds up production, which means we can guarantee same or next working day despatch. This make Stikins® super quick to buy, supply, and apply!
To order Stikins® for your cubs, you can order online anytime or order by phone during office hours (9am-5pm). Simply pick your pack size(s), enter your personalisation, add your address, and pay. We’ll post your order by Royal Mail’s first class service on the same working day (order by 3pm, Mon-Fri) or next working day (order after 3pm or over the weekend).