lOfi rornLAU offiptal oninR. 



ijcnerally the most active and playful of all captive bears. 

 Ill cold weather, Avhen other bears lie in the sun, or, if per- 

 mitted, curl np ill the straw of their sleeping dens, the 

 Polar Bear will disport himself in the freezing cold water 

 of his swimming' pool, and joyously play with a cake of ice 

 until the sight of it makes one shiver. 



The Polar Bear Deu is situated at the north end of Rock- 

 ing-Stone Ilill, about two hundred feet from the north end 

 of the main series of Bear Dens. It is reached by descending 

 the steps leading toward the Beaver Pond, and turning to 

 the right. From the Rocking-Stone Restaurant, the Polar 

 Bears are quickly reached by descending the hill toward the 

 north. 



Although the Polar Bear inhabits practically the whole of 

 the Arctic Ocean and its numerous islands, it is by no means 

 the most northerly warm-blooded mammal. Nanseii found 

 fox tracks at 85" N., but the most northerly bear observed 

 was on the 84th parallel. The favorite home of this ani- 

 mal is the edge of the great polar ice cap, where Neptune 

 and the ' ' Frost King ' ' wage continuous warfare. He seldom 

 ventures more than a day's journey inland, on any shore. 

 In winter, as the edge of the ice-pack moves southward, and 

 in summer when it retreats northward, he follows it in 

 order to keep in touch with the ringed seals and walrus 

 that also go with it. 



The power of the Polar Bear to resist ice-cold water— 

 naj^, even to enjoy it — may fairly be regarded as one of 

 the wonders of Nature. On the coast of Alaska this strange 

 creature will plunge into the Arctic Ocean and swim miles 

 from shore, through tossing fields of broken ice, and wher- 

 ever the mother leads, her cubs follow. 



The world's supply of captive Polar Bears comes almost 

 wholly from whalers and sealers, who improve every oppor- 

 tunity to capture cubs. A great number thus find their 

 waj^ into the hands of Mr. Carl Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, 

 who supplied the large specimen now exhibited. The griz- 

 zly bear of the United States will soon cease to exist, but not 

 so with the Polar Bear. Thanks to the "Frost King," he 

 needs no protection against man's propensity to exterminate 

 all wild creatures. There will be hundreds of bears around 

 the northern end of Franz Josef Land as long as the seals 

 and walrus remain for them to feed upon. 



The Yakutat Bear, {Ursiis dalli).— In 1899, we received 

 from Hudson Lake, Copper River District, Alaska, two 

 young Alaskan Brown Bears which for some time we be- 



