many zoos do not provide polar bears appropriate environments within their exhibit space. "Polar bears spend most of their time on land and on ice, not in the water," he says. Zoos often have proportionally more water than land to force bears to spend time in the water, "but that isn't what polar bears do.
Home is on the sea ice.
A polar bear's home range can be enormous—far greater than any other species of bear. The size of a polar bear's range depends on two main factors: habitat quality and availability of seal prey.
The sea bear depends on sea ice.
A polar bear's life cycle is closely tied to sea ice. They rely on the ice to travel, hunt seals, breed, and in some cases, den. Scientists believe polar bears are unlikely to survive if ice-free periods exceed their fasting ability (220 days), especially in areas that lack alternate marine mammal prey.
Polar bears are strong swimmers and divers, a characteristic that allows them to swim from one ice floe to the next. They also swim underneath thin ice and, as Norwegian researchers recently observed, dive for kelp near shore.
Arctic weather can be fiercely cold. As humans, we need protective clothing and/or shelter to stay warm. Polar bears don’t. Their bodies thrive in the stark temperatures.
Please don't move Polar bears from the Artic! They don't belong in zoos!!
