Save The Polar Bears Now!

Below is an MLA essay written to explain the desperation of the endangerment of polar bears.

How Much Longer Can Polar Bears Survive?

A polar bear creeps behind a seal, hidden. If he does not catch this meal, he could starve. At this time of year, polar bears will only succeed 1 out of 20 hunts. Unfortunately for this polar bear he is far too weak to catch his prey. This is the same sad story for many polar bears around the world suffering from the effects of longer summers year after year. The longer a summer the less time the ice bear is given to hunt in his natural habitat. Many of these bears are learning for the first time how to hunt on their own, mothers leave their cubs at 30 months old, adding new weather only makes it harder for the young to adjust to new terms of hunting. This arctic bear, also known as the ursus maritimus, is native to the arctic circle. We need to protect this marvelous mammal because it’s exclusive, vulnerable, and does not have a voice of it’s own.

Lounging on the sea ice, in the Arctic Ocean, a marine mammal lies absorbing all the sun it can get. Because of its thick layer of body fat and its large water-repellant coat this bear is completely insulated from the cold, crisp air (World WildLife). Most people believe that since the polar bear is white they will get colder faster because white does not attract heat, although they are mistaken. This animal’s skin is black and its fur is a thin clear hollow tube. These hollow hairs look like they are white because it reflects the light. This helps keep the mammal warm by trapping in the heat of the sun and keeps the bear warm at ninety-eight degrees while they’re resting (KidZone Animal Facts). Being able to with hold this heat helps these animals when they are diving into the chilled water of the Arctic Ocean. Sometimes, they will have to dive up to fourteen feet just to catch a seal that has tried to escape. Moving up to seven miles per hour, their 12 inch paws slice through the water and their razor sharp teeth ready to clamp (World WildLife). Seals are a main prey to polar bears and can keep them full for one day then they have to hunt again. If there are no seals caught in a day then these bears look for another meal including walruses, beluga whales, whale carcuses, and other fat based foods. The more fat a meal has the longer a polar bear can go without getting hungry. Many whales become a key diet in the summer because during this time a polar bear is swimming to Hudson Bay to spend its long summer. Almost all polar bears know the way to Hudson Bay because their mother directed them when they were young and the scent of a place never goes away (KidZone Animal Facts). When a mother takes her cubs to the mainland she leaves her mate a week after the cubs are born. To find a mate male polar bears sense females, but if two bears go for the same female they will fight and whoever wins gets the girl; this technique is called polygyny (World WildLife). After eighteen to thirty months the baby cubs leave their mother and are lone survivors; hunting on their own, swimming alone to the mainland, and starting their own life for the next generation.

Due to global warming, oil exploration, and overhunting the polar bear population have faced a fate of extinction. Overtime there has been an increase every year in the amount of polar bears that are dying. The results of the 1980’s through the 2000’s only proves the decreasing result, always at a slim 20,000 in 19 populations, with the looks of no hope. Fortunately the 2010’s have been a very hopeful year for the polar bear. Although global warming, oil exploration, and overhunting have had a large contribution to the outcome of the polar bears so have humans, not to destroy but help. With many large organizations like World Wildlife fund and National Geographic, they give a platform to share endangered species's story and how you can help. Since the 2010’s have given people more information and light on the subject of many of the issues that make a polar bear endangered, the polar bears population has risen to the high 20,000’s instead of low. This is not to say that polar bear’s are still widely in danger. Although the number is increasing, it is still not an overwhelming amount of polar bears. Global warming is not only one of the reasons polar bears are endangered but perhaps one of the worst in the polar bear’s way. Global warming effects polar bears by, “...population sizes decreasing, sea ice platforms moving farther apart and swimming conditions more dangerous, fewer hunting opportunities and increased scarcity of food. “(National Wildlife Federation). Unfortunately, when a bear is on his journey to find a home for the next 3-6 months it is likely that like many other bears he will not make it. On his journey he will come across many oil spills in the ocean. Oils spills are extremely dangerous to the bear, “The ingested oil can cause liver and kidney damage, and has long-term toxicity. Bears can be poisoned by even a limited amount of oil on their fur.” (World Wildlife Fund). It is very unlikely the polar bear will survive unless he can regain energy from calorie intake but, prey in the area have most likely ingested the oil themselves. Making it a death trap for the polar bear. If the polar bear survives he will only face the next challenge, overhunting. The land a polar bear journey’s to is also widely corrupted with people. Overhunting can easily be accomplished if the country allows it, “...hunting quotas are designed to keep the bears' populations stable. But in some countries, the extent of polar bear hunting--and its effect on populations--is unknown.” (National Wildlife Fund). After all the work that the polar bear has done to get to the land, it is only fair that mankind respect their space and not put them towards endangerment.

Many people are making changes in their everyday life to save the polar bears and their habitat. One of the major contributors to this project is the World WildLife foundation also known as WWF. The WWF is providing a management plan in Greenland and Canada to protect the polar bears that come to the shore so they don’t get killed by the people that live in these areas (World WildLife). In addition, WWF is also adding special fences, cameras, storage containers that bears couldn’t open, and much more to “bear-proof” places so that the people wouldn’t get hurt and so the bears were also safe (World WildLife). Also, Arctic communities are providing tools such as pepper spray to give their people a way to fight against these bears but not to kill them. Last but not least, the WWF has started to track some of the bears to see their new migration habits and to try to predict some new changes they can make to help these polar bears (World WildLife). This program is one of the main focuses on these bears and is making a huge impact on their lives. Right now they are still pushing to inform people about the struggle of these animals and telling them how they could help. They are trying to spread this message because these animals are at the top of the food web and without them everything will be out of order. To add on if these animals were to go extinct everything that they eat including seals, walruses, whales, reindeer, rodents, birds, etc., population would go up and get out of control. Also if the seal population got too overwhelming the wholes that they poke in the ice will start getting created faster and faster breaking apart the ice and slowly deteriorating the Arctic Circle. Many people all over the world are making efforts to help this creature and if more people don’t start to see what could happen their whole ecosystem would slowly fade away leaving nothing but water left for these bears.

Polar bears will become extinct if we do nothing to save them. Polar bears are in the state they are because of mankind and it’s actions. It only seems fair to save what we endangered, an amazing creature that we have taken a voice from. Luckily for us humans there are many ways to fix the problems we created. Options include: to go solar, partake in cleaning your city, and use less energy. These are three simple ways to save a generation of polar bears. It is important that we save these animals because of it’s uniqueness, susceptibility, and due to the fact it is defenseless. To quote a Loretta Lynch, “We all have a responsibility to protect endangered species, both for their sake and for the sake of our own future generations.".








Works Cited
"Climate & Energy." WWF. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2017.
"Climate Change in the Arctic." WWF. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2017.
"KidZone Animal Facts The Polar Bear." Worksheets for Kids. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2017.
"Polar Bear." National Wildlife Federation. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2017.
"Polar Bear." WWF. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 12 May 2017.