BEARS. 



Habits. 



In Southern Labrador the Polar bear seems to be totally extinct, the last specimen 

 that was seen on the shores of the Strait of Belle Isle (dividing Labrador from 

 Newfoundland) having been killed in the year 1849. In Labrador the range of 

 the white bear overlaps that of the American black bear. 



Baron Nordenskibld states that the Polar bear generally lives on 

 such coasts and islands as are surrounded by ice, while it is often 

 found on the ice-fields far out at sea, which form its best hunting-grounds. In 

 regard to the numbers of these animals, he states that the Norwegian " vessels from 

 Tromsoe brought home in 1868 twenty, in 1869 fifty-three, in 1870 ninety-eight, 

 in 1871 seventy-four, and in 1873 thirty-three bears. It may be inferred from 

 this that the Norwegian walrus-hunters kill yearly on an average at least a 



I'OLAR BEAR CLIMBING A FLOE. 



hundred bears. It is remarkable that in this large number a pregnant female or 

 one with newly -born young is never found. The female bear appears to keep her- 

 self well concealed during the time she is pregnant, — perhaps in some ice-hole in 

 the interior of the country." 



In Nordenskiold's opinion it is uncertain if the Polar bear hibernates, although 

 there are several circumstances indicating that it probably does so. In the most 

 northerly wintering-stations of ships, the bears almost completely disappear during 

 the long arctic winter, while there are cases where some of them have been 

 found concealed in holes. It will, however, be obvious that this disappearance 

 from the more northern regions in winter may well be due to migration, while 

 the individuals found in concealment may all have been females, which are known 

 to bring forth their young beneath the snow. Other writers, as we shall see 

 below, definitely state that in many districts males and young cubs are to be 



