Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are often in the news as the “poster animals” of climate change, but outside of the fact that they are big, look white (yes, that “look” part is important!), and their habitat is in severe danger, what else do most people really know about them?

Here are eight facts about polar bears that will leave you even more enamored with these beastly beauties. There’s definitely a lot more to these Arctic-dwelling bears than what most wildlife lovers know.

Witness the largest gathering of wild polar bears each fall in Churchill, Manitoba, on a Nat Hab Polar Bear adventure!

1. Polar bears sometimes share food with Arctic foxes

You might think a massive, gnarly, hungry polar bear would gobble up any animal that came close. But nope—efficient polar bears in normal conditions tend to only eat animals with lots of high-calorie fatty blubber (makes sense why they have a preference for marine animals).

When food is abundant, they won’t touch Arctic foxes and often even share food with them. The polar bear has what’s called a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with Arctic foxes. The polar bear, after gnawing on the blubber of a marine animal, will usually leave the meaty part of the carcass behind. Arctic foxes follow polar bears and scavenge on these remains.

They’re also polite sharers among themselves. When they have access to larger marine mammals such as beluga whales, there can be over 3,000 pounds of food to share amongst a group of polar bears. When one polar bear wants to share another bear’s food, they’ll slowly circle their way toward them and gently touch noses to ask if they can share.

2. Polar bears are the only carnivorous bears

Although most bears are omnivores, meaning that they live off a diet of both animals and plants, there isn’t exactly an abundance of plant life in the Arctic tundra. Polar bears are carnivorous, and their primary diet is ringed and bearded seals.

That being said, polar bears are opportunistic hunters, and in the summer, when they can’t hunt seals, they will at times turn to other food sources to survive. This can include birds, terrestrial mammals and even vegetation such as algae and berries. For this reason, some scientists prefer to classify them as hypercarnivores—animals whose diets are composed of more than 70% meat. But in perfect polar bear conditions, they would happily munch on only seals, and that would be that!

An active polar bear can burn through 12,325 calories per day. That equates to a female having to eat either one large adult seal, three small adult seals or nineteen newborn seal pups every week and a half just to maintain her body mass. I can’t even imagine how many plants they would have to eat to cover their caloric needs!

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3. If you happen to be a lost arctic explorer, think twice about eating polar bear meat

Although it’s illegal for most people to hunt polar bears, there are some exceptions for Indigenous populations that have relied on them as a source of food for many hundreds of years. But they have to know what they’re doing. Polar bear meat must be very well cooked, as it often is filled with Trichinella spiralis parasites. These cause trichinosis, which in severe cases can cause death.

Eating polar bear liver is also incredibly dangerous, because it is so high in vitamin A that it can cause hypervitaminosis A in humans—a freaky, deadly disease that can cause your hair to fall out and your skin to peel. In the past, many hungry explorers who probably celebrated before they feasted later died from eating raw polar bear meat.

© Brad Josephs

4. The distances polar bears can swim are almost unbelievable

Because they prey on seals and whales, it shouldn’t come as any huge shock that polar bears are decent swimmers. But between their big, slightly webbed paws and a hollow outer layer of fur that gives them added buoyancy, they are actually amazing swimmers. They have to be, as they migrate long distances by water when moving from the melting sea ice to islands or the mainland.

Each migration is over a hundred miles on average, but there are polar bears on record for having traveled more than 425 miles in a single swim. That’s more than nine days straight—three times the longest distance ever swum at once by a human!

5. Polar bears aren’t actually white

Wait, what? Yup, it’s true. Polar bears have two layers of fur. One is a short undercoat, and one is made up of longer “guard hairs.” While it might seem by looking at a polar bear that these hairs are white, they’re actually translucent. They only look white because they reflect the sunlight.

© Brad Josephs

Sometimes on our Polar Bear adventures, we see polar bears under a gray sky, and they appear gray. At sunset, they can have a tinge of red to them. They can also even appear green in captivity: Rough concrete pens can cause tiny holes to form in the guard hairs, letting algae in to grow, especially when they are kept in warmer climates.

Another fun fact: While all other bears have pink skin underneath their fur, polar bears actually have black skin. This helps them retain heat in cold Arctic climes.

6. Polar bears have the most sensitive sniffers of any land mammal

Polar bears can hear a slightly wider range of frequencies than humans (up to 25 kHz), and their eyesight is also similar to that of humans (although they do have a protective membrane over their eyes that helps shield them from ultraviolet light). But polar bears’ sense of smell is a whole other matter.

According to the folks at Guinness World Records, polar bears have the most sensitive noses of any mammal that lives on land. They can smell prey up to 20 miles away! Even if an animal is hiding under three feet of dense snow, they can’t hide from a polar bear. The bear will smell them with no problem.

7. Female polar bears can give birth to cubs from different fathers at the same time

Polar bears are polygynous and rarely ever mate with the same bear in different years. And male polar bears are definitely not paternal. After mating, the male will only hang out with the female for a few days before leaving. The female does what she wants as well, often mating with another partner during the same breeding season. This can end up with her giving birth to offspring from different fathers at the same time.

© Colby Brokvist

Although most polar bears don’t hibernate like other species of bear (they spend winter on the sea ice hunting seals and building up their fat reserves for the food-scarce summer on the mainland), pregnant polar bears do enter a hibernation-like state. They go into their dens around October, with cubs being born around 60 days later. They stay in their dens for around seven to eight months until the cubs can leave. During this time, they remain in a reduced metabolic state where they don’t eat, drink, urinate or defecate to save energy.

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8. Unfortunately, the polar bear is the poster animal for climate change for good reason

It’s no secret that polar bears are facing serious threats from the changing climate.

Polar bears rely on the Arctic sea ice to access seals, whales and other marine mammals for food. They must build up their fatty reserves before heading to the food-scarce mainland or islands for the summer. However, with the sea ice melting earlier and earlier each year, they don’t have adequate time to build up these very necessary fatty reserves.

© Lianne Thompson

Despite the obvious fact that they could easily hunt humans if they wanted, polar bears try to avoid confrontation. A review of attacks by polar bears on humans between 1970 and 2014 reported only 20 deaths across their entire range, including Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the United States. But climate change could mix things up and make hungry polar bears desperate. Malnourished bears are the most likely to attack humans at campsites and Inuit settlements.

Bonus Fact: You can see them (safely and sustainably!) for yourself

Scientists now estimate that there are fewer than 26,000 polar bears left in the wild, and given the current state of environmental affairs, they may be extinct by the end of the century. If you’re interested in seeing these beautiful creatures in the wild, there’s no better time than now.

You can feel good about your part in sustainable tourism, as we partner with World Wildlife Fund. WWF has spent many years working with tourism operators in areas inhabited by polar bears to find ways to not only limit the impact of tourists on the bears and their habitat but also contribute to conservation efforts. The result of their work was a strong and clear set of principles for Arctic tourism. On our sustainable polar bear trips, we happily follow their lead for how to best interact with these creatures for the good of all.

The post Getting to Know the Polar Bear: 8 Surprising Facts About the King of the Arctic first appeared on Good Nature Travel Blog.