THE POLAR BEAR 



( Ursus maritimus) 



LIVING amid eternal ice and snow, the polar bear, which is equalled in 

 bodily size only by some of the huge brown bears of Alaska and Kamchatka, 

 evidently owes its white, or in some instances pale cream-coloured, coat to 

 its surroundings ; this white livery, like that of the polar hare, being worn 

 throughout the year. The species is always alluded to simply as the polar bear, 

 although its full title should be the north polar bear ; the Antarctic, so far as we 

 know at present, having no land mammals. 



In its native haunts the polar bear is found alike on the ice-bound coasts 

 and islands, and on the ice-fields themselves, where it obtains much of its food, 

 this being captured both on land and in the water. Indeed, this great carnivore is 

 fully as much at home in the sea as on terra firma, and is capable of swimming 

 long distances at a stretch. 



In former days it is probable that the polar bear ranged considerably farther 

 south than is the case at the present day, when it is but rarely seen even in the 

 south of Greenland. The species, like Arctic animals generally, has a nearly 

 circumpolar distribution, and has been divided into a number of local races. These 

 are at present distinguished by skull-characters, but if a sufficient series of skins 

 were available in museums for comparison, there would probably be found local 

 differences in the colour, length, and character of the fur. Polar bear skins are, 

 however, of great commercial value, so that no collection contains a large series 

 of specimens. Moreover, the exact locality of most of the skins offered for sale 

 by furriers is unknown. 



Against the intense cold of its Arctic home the white bear is well protected 

 by its long and dense coat, as well as by the thick layer of fat underlying the skin. 

 By means of the hairy covering of the soles of the feet — which in other bears are 

 naked — the animal is enabled to obtain a firm foothold on the ice ; upon which, as 

 well as on land, it is a swift and long-winded runner. As special adaptations in 

 the bodily form to swimming and diving, may be mentioned the thin, compressed 

 body, the long neck, the small ears, and the long pointed head, which offer the 

 least possible resistance to progression in water. The strong limbs, with broad 

 paws and webs between the toes, form efficient oars when swimming ; while the 

 oily nature of the fur keeps the water off the body. The white bear is, in fact, as 

 admirably adapted to a life among the Arctic ice as is the lion to the deserts of 

 Africa ; and both animals may be regarded as the absolute rulers of their respective 

 domains. 



