Island of polar bears. Polar bears are the kings of the Arctic Visiting Wrangel Island
The polar bear is the largest animal not only among bears, but among all predators. There are huge males, whose body length reaches 280 cm, height at the withers – 150 cm, and weight – 800 kg; females are smaller and lighter.
The species is listed in the IUCN Red Book and the Russian Red Book. Limited hunting is permitted only for the indigenous population of the North.
Polar bears live in the polar regions in the northern hemisphere of the Earth. Distributed to the north - up to 88° N. sh., to the south - to Newfoundland, on the mainland - in the arctic desert zone to the tundra zone.
Polar bears are associated with drifting and fast sea ice year-round. They come to land rarely and not for long. It happens that, together with floating ice, polar bears reach the shores of Iceland and even end up in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan. However, such animals always strive to return to their familiar ice environment; to do this, they make long journeys over land, moving strictly north. 
In the harsh conditions of the Arctic, there is no usual alternation of day and night. There is no pronounced daily activity in the animals inhabiting it. Not all polar bears go into hibernation, which is widely known for brown bears. Winter sleep is typical only for female bears who are about to become mothers, and elderly males, who are thus waiting out the most difficult time of the year. Strong, healthy males and non-pregnant females are usually active all year round, holed up in freshly dug dens in the snow only during heavy snowstorms 
The polar bear, unlike its omnivorous relatives, is a predator that actively hunts large animals. Its main victims are Arctic seals, ringed seals, and bearded seals. Sometimes the bear hunts the young of large marine mammals - walruses, beluga whales and narwhals. When the sea washes the corpse of a whale ashore, several predators gather near the carcass.
While on land, bears feed on bird eggs and lemmings. In addition, in the summer on the mainland and islands they eat cloudberries, and in the intertidal zone they eat algae such as kelp and fucus. After leaving the den, she-bears dig up the snow and eat willow shoots and sedge leaves. 
Mating in polar bears occurs in spring or summer. Up to 3 and even up to 7 males gather around the female. The mating couple stays together for a short time, only while the female is in estrus, which is only 3 days.
The polar bear migrates widely from the coasts of the Arctic Ocean all the way to the Pole. But in the fall, pregnant females come to the land of the islands or mainland where they make a den. Long before hibernating, the female bear manages to gain enough fat, which she spends throughout the winter.
Pregnant females lie down in dens for winter sleep for up to six months, and births also occur here in the midst of severe winter. Usually 1-3 bear cubs appear. They are born blind, naked and deaf, weighing about 500-750 g. Polar bear milk is very fatty and nutritious. The cubs begin to see the light in a month, in the second month (weighing 10 kg) their teeth erupt, by this time the cubs begin to leave the den. The mother gradually accustoms them to cold, wind and light. And after another month or two, the family leaves the den completely and goes out onto the ice.
The cubs do not part with the mother bear for a year and a half. The female jealously protects her offspring, in particular from males, who are very dangerous for cubs.
Females reach sexual maturity at 4 years, males later 
Polar bears do not stick to specific individual areas. Adult animals, as a rule, roam alone. Having caught a seal and having had its fill, the predator sleeps right there, at the site of a successful hunt, and, waking up, wanders on. 
In the vastness of the icy desert, it is difficult for such a giant to remain unnoticed for prey. His camouflage fur coat helps out the clubfoot. Freezing in place, the bear merges with the surrounding landscape. The seal will have no idea why the snowdrift suddenly rose and hit him with its paw. 
Why is the bear white? If you look at it, this bear should be called not white, but colorless. It lacks the pigment that is responsible for the color of its fur. It is interesting to see a single hair under magnification. It turns out that it resembles a thin hollow tube. The inside of the tube is uneven. Due to this, the light is fragmented and reflected at different angles, which creates the appearance of white.
But the polar bear does not always appear as such a colorless person. In summer, under the influence of active sun, its coat acquires a yellow tint. There are polar bears with green stuff. You can usually see such specimens in climatic zones unusual for them. For example, in zoos in tropical countries. Bears turn green because microscopic algae grow in their hollow fur. 
So, we found out that a polar bear can be white, yellow, and even green. But no matter what color its fur is, if we part it, we will find a dark, almost black animal! As dark as the tip of a bear's nose. This skin color contributes to the least heat transfer, which is important in the harsh polar climate. Well, Mother Nature simply endowed the polar bear with amazing coverings! Thanks to them, he will not freeze and will be able to feed himself.
Threats to the species:
For polar bears, the main natural limiting factor is the number and availability of seals. Low reproduction rates and relatively high mortality among bear cubs also limit population growth. Trichinosis, which is widespread among polar bears, apparently also causes some damage to the population. Long-term changes in numbers are apparently associated with cooling and warming climates in the Arctic. Among anthropogenic factors, illegal shooting (it took on a particularly large scale in Chukotka), habitat pollution, and disturbance factors have a negative impact on populations. A decrease in the number of seals can occur not only due to the influence of natural factors, but also due to human fault. 
In captivity, a polar bear can live more than 30 years, but less in the wild.
General information
There are 19 populations of polar bears in the Arctic - 20-25 thousand animals in total? In the Russian Arctic, polar bears live in the Barents, Kara, East Siberian, Chthe Ukot Sea, the Laptev Sea and the northern part of the Bering Sea. They are listed in the federal and regional Red Books.
Dimensions: The length of the male reaches two and a half meters, its weight is 350-600 (up to 800) kilograms, the weight of the female is 200-300 kilograms.
Offspring: in November-January, the female gives birth to cubs (usually two). The cubs remain in the den until February-March.
Lifespan: 25-30 years old.
The brown bear and the polar bear have a common ancestor. Their habits differ somewhat from each other, but both are dangerous to humans. A polar bear senses prey several kilometers away, its sense of smell, vision and hearing are so developed. It catches seals, fish, and in times of famine eats chicks, carrion, and algae. Bears are extremely curious. They immediately set off to investigate any unfamiliar object on the shore.
Polar explorer Toptygin
One Nenets fairy tale tells how bears went towards each other: the white one went south, and the brown one went north. They came face to face and began to fight. The fight ended in a draw: the white one was stronger, and the brown one was more agile. And the bears decided: we are brothers, we will each live in our own areas so as not to disturb each other...
Polar and brown bears are indeed relatives; their common ancestors lived 150 thousand years ago. Now everyone has their own habitat, and from here - pdifferent habits and appearance.
The polar bear is a symbol of the Arctic: of the land mammals, only it lives on its drifting ice. The strongest survive in harsh conditionse.Sometimes you have to swim without stopping, overcomingrecord distances - up to 170 kilosmeters! And jump from ice floe to ice floe; even if the distance between them reaches six meters.
In European languages, the polar bear is called differently: northern, polar, ice. And its Latin name Ursus maritimus means “sea bear.” The life of a polar bear is completely dependent on the sea; here its main food is seals. On land, he does not go far from the shore: water is his salvation in case of danger.
Thick fur is excellent protection from frost. Subcutaneous fat up to ten centimeters thick also prevents freezing. Under the white fur, the bear's skin is black. And the fur actually only appears white or yellowish: these are hollow, colorless hairs that look like tubes. They let the sun's rays through, and black leather retains heat.
It happened that in zoos the fur coat of polar bears acquired a green tint: microscopic algae grew inside the fur. Although, in general, bears constantly monitor cleanliness: it is important that the fur does not lose its insulating properties.
Polar bears in the Red Book
Eskimos hunted polar bears
s, Chukchi and other peoples of the North. But they never hunted more animals than they needed. And they even asked each bear for forgiveness for being forced to kill it. Since masteringIn the Arctic, commercial fishing began, and the number of polar bears was rapidly declining. Animal rights activists have sounded the alarm.
In 1973, ArcticEuropean states have concluded an Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears. And in our country, hunting for them was banned back in 1938. Now only the indigenous peoples of the North can hunt bears, and a strictly defined number can be shot (the so-called quota).
In 2011, such hunting was banned in Russia. But the forecasts are still bad: in forty years, two-thirds of all polar bears will become extinct. Due to global warming, the ice is melting. But the bear only hunts sealson drifting ice floes. There are many oil and gas fields being developed in the Arctic, and because of this the sea is not becoming cleaner.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has included the polar bear in the Red List of Critically Endangered Species. Wrangel Island and Herald Island, where the largest “maternity hospitals” of polar bears are located, have already been declared a state reserve. Recently, Greenpeace activists from around the world dressed up as polar bears and took to the streets, calling on governments to abandon Arctic development and create a nature reserve on its territory.
But what about the famous bear hibernation, if polar bears have winter all year round?
Yes, they sleep for a long time, but you can’t call it hibernation: their body temperature hardly decreases, and the bear can wake up at any moment. Where the climate is especially harsh and the winds are strong - for example, in the Canadian Arctic - males can lie down in a snowy den in September, October and January. In the north of Taimyr, bears also sleep from mid-December to early February. Females stay in dens longer: in the middle of winter they give birth to cubs. They are very small: each weighs about 450 grams and fits in the palm of your hand, and their fur is more like fluff.
The mother bear's milk is fatty and nutritious, and the babies grow quickly. In March, they leave the snowy den and accompany their mother everywhere, gaining life experience.
Polar bears are friendly towards their relatives and often play with each other. If they find a dead whale carcass, they feast together.
Can brown and polar bears actually meet?
Yes, for example, in Chukotka and Alaska. But, contrary to the Nenets fairy tale, the polar bear will not mess with the brown one and will give way to him.
Man has long hunted polar bears with dogs. But hunting has long been prohibited, and bears and dogs sometimes even play.
IFAW International Fund for Animal Welfare
Do you know someone who has done something special for animals? Perhaps this person dedicated his life to saving animals in the reserve? Or advocated for animals as an environmental activist? Or did he carry out daring rescue operations?
Are you ready to take part in an action to protect polar bears? Visit the site www.ifaw.org/russia/- there you will find tasks for independent work, as well ascolorful booklets, posters and film.
Bibliographic list of references
1. Bashnaeva, T. Sheltered among the ice / T. Bashnaeva // Anthill. - 2010. - No. 10. - P. 23-25
Inhabitants of the Arctic reserve "Wrangel Island".
2. Begisheva, A. Your neighbors are sleeping... polar bears / A. Begisheva // GEO / GEO. - 2012. - No. 1. - P. 64-79.
3. Visiting the Ursa Major // Why and why. - 2011. - No. 10. - P. 6-9
North and South Pole. Earth's axis. Features of polar bears.
4. All sorts of stuff // Anthill. - 2013. - No. 1. - P. 17-19, 24-25
Brief funny notes about animals.
5. Dvoretskaya, G. Let's support Ursus maritimus! / G. Dvoretskaya // Murmansk Bulletin. - 2013. - February 28. (No. 36). - S. 1,2
Campaign “Let's save polar bears together” on International Polar Bear Day in Murmansk.
6. Elina, E. Polar explorer Toptygin / E. Elina // GEOlenok. - 2012. - No. 12 (98). - pp. 10-15
Habits and lifestyle of the polar bear.
7. Is the lion rightly called the king of beasts? // Fun lessons. - 2012. - No. 8. - P. 7
The largest and strongest predators among animals.
8 . Feklushin, V. Arctic / V. Feklushin // Children's Encyclopedia AiF. - 2013. - No. 1. - P. 1-56.
The issue is dedicated to the Arctic, which tells about famous polar explorers, how many difficulties and dangers they had to overcome, as well as about the unique nature of the North.
9. Shainyan, K. Human service / K. Shainyan // Around the world. - 2012. - No. 12. - P. 242-254.
What are the features of the life activity and body structure of polar bears? How these animals are studied, what is being done to preserve their populations.
Internet resources
Living symbol of the Arctic: [electronic resource] // IFAW International Fund for Animal Welfare: [website], 2013. - Access mode: http://www.ifaw.org/russia.
In the Chukchi Sea on the Wrangel and Herald Islands there is the Wrangel Island Nature Reserve, which is considered the northernmost in the Far East. The area of the protected area is more than two million hectares, with almost half of the area occupied by sea waters.
If you are traveling to Krasnodar, then most likely you are interested in information about the train stations and airports of this city. All Krasnodar stations and the airport are located on one website - krdgid.ru. Visit this website, read detailed information about each train station in Krasnodar.
The Northern Reserve “Wrangel Island” is famous for the fact that many polar bears give birth here, and also in these parts there is a population of white goose, considered the only one in Russia.
I would like to note that there are many different animals in the reserve, but the climate of the islands is especially attractive for polar bears, which have a relatively narrow habitat, and females choose small, poorly developed islands to give birth to their babies. It is not surprising that many people call the territory of the Wrangel Island Nature Reserve a maternity hospital for polar bears.
Every year, on average, about five thousand pregnant polar bears swim to these places, and their dens can be located almost nearby. The best place for a bear rookery is the slopes of a mountain located near the seashore. Most often, female bears dig dens in the snow, and when the snow cover is small, the rookery is built in some kind of depression. Further snowfalls will complete the construction of the den and erect a snow ceiling and walls.
In the ceiling of her oval-shaped snow den, the bear makes a ventilation hole to regulate the temperature and humidity of the air. The exit from the rookery is located below, which also allows maintaining optimal temperature. Even in thirty-degree frosts in such a “house” it will be up to seven degrees warm.
The Wrangel Island Nature Reserve plays a huge role in maintaining the polar bear population, largely thanks to it, since the mid-eighties of the last century, there has been a positive growth trend for these rare animals.
“Anyone who is lucky enough to visit and work there will love and remember this “Unknown Land” for the rest of their lives. (A.I. Mineev)
The main policy of the reserve is non-interference in natural processes. We proceed from the fact that this territory belongs to Nature, people only observe the processes taking place. Over the years of its existence, the infrastructure of the reserve has merged with the landscape of the island. Bears often roam around the houses; in winter, musk oxen enter the village. Arctic foxes hunt lemmings near houses, white owls use buildings as brood broods. Wolverines play near the cordons. During spring migration, white geese often rest after a long flight near the village.
MAIN “MATERNITY HOSPITAL”
The Chukchi name for Wrangel Island is “Umkylir,” which means “Bear Island.” And indeed it is. It is impossible to imagine the Arctic without a polar bear. This is the largest of the land predators. The white giant (up to 700 kg) surpasses its land relatives in mass. Every year, starting from the end of July, many bears approach the shores of Wrangel Island. Their existence depends on the presence of walruses and seals and the nature of the ice cover. Wrangel Island is also called the “maternity hospital” of polar bears. The maximum density of ancestral dens for the entire Arctic was recorded on Herald Island.
Counting polar bears throughout the Arctic is a complex matter and requires constant combined efforts of scientists and practitioners from all polar countries. The total number of polar bears is estimated at about 22 thousand individuals. The Chukotka-Alaskan population numbers about 2,000 individuals. However, these figures are approximate. Just two decades of intensive polar bear hunting have brought it to the brink of extinction. In Russia, any hunting of polar bears has been prohibited since 1956, and poaching carries criminal penalties. This rare species is listed in the Red Book.
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and the Red Book of Russia. Sometimes there are cubs that the mother bear lost or was killed by poachers. Sometimes young female bears lose their cubs, especially if there are several cubs in the litter, when they are chased by people. This is not always due to the desire to kill a bear; often people want to photograph them at a short distance. So in 2010, with the participation of the reserve’s staff, a bear cub found near the island of Aion was transferred to the Moscow Zoo. That’s how they named him Aion. His mother was not found.
Currently, preserving the polar bear population and studying it is one of the reserve’s priorities. It is successfully solved by the leading researcher of the reserve, Candidate of Biological Sciences Nikita Ovsyanikov. Despite lengthy controversy, the killing of polar bears was never permitted. We think this is a great achievement. Natural conditions are changing too quickly at the present time; there is not enough data to say with confidence that the killing of a small number of bears will not affect the population. It is necessary to conduct large-scale studies involving the most modern advances in genetics and tagging using satellite tracking sensors. The reserve has accumulated extensive experience in polar bear research, but, unfortunately, there are often not enough funds to conduct such research.
In the modern world, the welfare of the polar bear is threatened by poaching, global warming, and Arctic pollution. In recent years, one of the main factors influencing the state of the population has been the lack of ice in late summer and autumn. Animals are forced to go to land and starve for a long time. This leads to problematic encounters with people in villages along the coast. In the reserve, animals also come to the village where its employees live, however, thanks to the extensive accumulated experience in dealing with these predators, no problems arise. The reserve's scientists, in their lectures and consultations, share their experience in preventing problematic encounters with polar bears.
WHAT ELSE ARE WE RICH?
The avifauna in the reserve is rich - more than 169 species of birds, of which 62 species nest on the island. Every year, white geese fly from North America to Wrangel Island. The creation of the Wrangel Island Nature Reserve was closely related to the need to protect the unique nesting grounds of white geese in Asia. In the middle of the last century, Wrangel Island became the only place where a colony of this species existed in the Old World. The uniqueness of the Wrangel population of white geese is determined primarily by the fact that here, on the territory of one colony, geese nesting side by side, arriving from two geographically separated wintering grounds.
Annual monitoring of the Wrangel population of white geese was started by Doctor of Biological Sciences E.V. Syroechkovsky in 1969 and has been maintained by the reserve’s staff for 40 (!) years. In terms of the duration and intensity of observations of a single population, these studies are exceptional.
The largest seabird colonies in the Chukchi Sea are located on Wrangel Island. The rare black geese are very interesting. Here you can also see the fork-tailed gull and the yellow-throated sandpiper, and in the fall, if you’re lucky, off the coast of the island you can admire the rarest, most mysterious and beautiful creatures of the Arctic - pink gulls.
The musk ox, or musk ox, is an ungulate animal. “Umingmak” (“bearded”) is the name given by the Eskimos of Nunivak Island to the musk ox, which was relocated to Wrangel Island in 1975. And it has taken root remarkably well; now scientists at the reserve count more than 800 individuals. From the very beginning, Wrangel Island was considered as a natural reserve for creating a full-fledged donor population of musk oxen. In the future, it was planned to resettle musk oxen to the northeastern territories (Chukotka, Eastern Yakutia) to create a full-fledged resource species in these places.
The reserve has developed a method for ground-based trapping of musk oxen, and since 2002, trapping has been periodically carried out for resettlement in Yakutia. Currently, the issue of approving a regional program for creating free-living populations of musk oxen in Chukotka is being considered.
Reindeer have lived on the island since 1948, when a reindeer herding state farm was organized in the village of Ushakovskoye. With their appearance, the composition of the island's fauna was enriched - wolverine and wolf came through the Long Strait, separating the island from the mainland.
After the closure of the state farm, the deer began to run wild and acquired a wild coloration. Their behavior also began to change. In recent years, the reindeer population on the island has declined catastrophically. This is due to ice conditions in winter. So in the winter of 2005, more than 6,000 deer died on the island.
The permanent resident of Wrangel Island is the Arctic fox. In winter, the Arctic fox is a beauty, it resembles a fluffy ball of fur. The reserve has the highest density of arctic fox burrows.
The Siberian lemming subspecies and Vinogradov's hoofed lemming, which live on Wrangel Island, are endemic. Once every three years, a mass breeding of lemmings occurs, and then many skuas, white owls, and arctic foxes appear on the island. In “lemming-free years,” the tundra is empty.
At the end of July - beginning of August, thousands of Pacific walruses come to Wrangel Island, migrating north after wintering in the Bering Strait. Every summer, gray whales appear off the coast of the island. In autumn, herds of beluga whales pass by the shores of the island.
The flora of Wrangel Island is one of the richest in the Arctic. There are more than four hundred plant species on the island, some of which are endemic. The world of higher plants has more than 480 species. Three of them, named by scientists after Wrangel, grow only here: poppy, cinquefoil and bluegrass.
The entomofauna of the island has not yet been fully studied. Each time, entomologist Olga Khruleva, while processing scientific collections, finds species new to the island, and sometimes to science.
FOR A CLEAN ARCTIC
In 2010, the reserve announced the “Clean Island” campaign, the purpose of which is to clean the reserve’s territory from anthropogenic pollution left over from the times when the reindeer herding state farm, the village of Ushakovskoye and military bases operated on Wrangel Island. Cleaning the reserve's territory from man-made debris was one of the conditions for the inclusion of Wrangel Island in the UNESCO List of World Natural Heritage Sites in 2004.
In February of this year, on the initiative of the administration of the Federal State Institution “Reserve “Wrangel Island”, the Minister of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation Yu.P. The Trutnevs were given instructions to prepare a Project for cleaning the territory of the reserve. In the summer of 2011, work began on Wrangel Island to clear the coastal strip of scrap metal as part of the implementation of the decree of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin on cleaning up the Arctic.
In August 2011, the ship “Mikhail Somov” approached the island, which delivered equipment. Employees of the reserve and specialists who arrived by ship took an active part in the work to clean up the territory of the reserve.
Scrap metal in the reserve is concentrated in several places. The main part is in the village of Ushakovskoye, the Somnitelnaya hospital and on Cape Hawaii. In preparation for the removal of scrap metal, the reserve's staff this summer collected about 1,000 barrels scattered throughout the reserve and stored them for further disposal. In just four days of work, 8.5 tons of barrels were prepared for removal and loaded onto the ship. Of course, this is not enough, but the first, main step has been taken - equipment and tools have been delivered.
The reserve's staff will continue to prepare scrap metal for removal for further recycling throughout the year.
Wrangel Island is called the “Pearl of the Arctic”. We are confident that a CLEAN territory of the reserve will create more favorable conditions for the life of animals and attract tourists. Wrangel Island is waiting for its guests. Those who understand the vulnerability of the Arctic nature and will treat it very carefully.
There is no larger carnivorous animal on our planet. Only marine predators like whales grow larger. But how big can a bear grow? Evidence very often comes from a hunt. Since people compete in the hope of killing the largest individual.
About 12 thousand years ago, grizzly bears crossed the ice that connected the islands near Alaska to the mainland. When the ice melted, they were trapped. This is one of the best things that ever happened to a group of bears. The green growing season on these islands lasts about 8-9 months. There are also a lot of salmon there and, in addition to this, several schools of deer. So it's a long season with a lot of calories. Because of this, the animals grew in size.
Currently, about 3 thousand individuals live on these islands. Where males can be over 3 meters tall and weigh over half a ton. In 1952, a biologist living in Alaska shot and killed the largest bear ever recorded. He weighed 540 kilograms.
But there is another representative of the animal world worthy of the title of the largest in the world. And he lives in one of the toughest places on Earth. Alaska, Beaufort Sea - these places are located more than 300 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. The sea is covered with a layer of one and a half meters of ice and covered with snow. It's hard to imagine how anything survives here. However, polar bears rule this watery region.
They can easily gain 450 kilograms in weight if they eat well. But these are just averages for polar bears. Adult males can easily reach a weight of more than 750 kilograms. The largest specimen recorded was 3 meters 65 centimeters tall and weighed more than 900 kilograms.
How can a world as barren as the Arctic produce such huge animals? The thing is that very nutritious food is hidden under the layer of polar ice. Ringed seals are covered with a 13-centimeter layer of fat. This is a very high-calorie food. Naturally, provided that you can catch it.
When brown bears wandered into the Arctic 250 thousand years ago, nature began to turn them into seal-catching machines. This is an extreme Arctic update. As grizzlies evolved, their back teeth evolved from plant crushers to meat slicers. In this way they are more like lions or tigers than their grizzly bear cousins. The same is true with their claws. They are real meat hooks and help not to miss even a huge victim.
To survive in such harsh conditions, the polar bear needed to change another part of its body. During evolution, the neck was extended forward and acquired additional muscles. Thanks to this, they can grab and pull seals from its air hole or from under the ice.
When this predator hunts, bioengineering works with it to create the ultimate Arctic hunter. Like a military leader, he hits the snow with his strong paws - until he breaks through the roof of the seals' shelter. He then sticks his long neck inside and grabs the seal with his razor-sharp teeth. In this hunt, size equals success. The larger the animal, the more efficiently it breaks through the ice. And the faster he does this, the greater the likelihood of catching the victim.
An adult male is capable of defeating almost any Arctic prey – even the largest one. An adult walrus can have 90 cm tusks and weigh almost 2 tons. But even he is practically helpless against a polar bear attack.
In 1994, a tourist climbed over 2 security fences to take a closer photograph of the sleeping animal. As a result, despite the third fence, the dangerous predator broke the tourist’s leg and inflicted many bites before the zoo workers were able to free her from her steely grip.
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