Polar bear Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Polar bear - Essay Example The polar bear have adaptive mechanisms that enable them to survive in circumpolar Arctic region. The environments in these regions are extremely cold and have both ice and water. These areas are also referred to us ice pack habitats. The species have thick fur which enables their survivability in such region. In addition, the polar bears are excellent in swimming. The female polar bears become sexually mature at the age of five years while the males obtain sexual maturity at around six years. During the mating seasons, normally between March and June, males and females congregate at the habitat suitable for seal hunting. There is usually stiff competition for the breading female. It is followed by multiple males that have to fight among themselves. The strongest on e chases others away and succeeds in mating the female. The polar bears feed on seals, especially the seal fat. They hunt ringed and bearded seals. The ringed seals are not as difficult to get as the bearded seals. They are easily accessible and can easily be hunted by young and female bears. In case of a good hunt the species extract blubber from the seals to leave the carcass for scavengers such as ravens and arctic foxes (WWF 10). There are series of unregulated shipping in the polar region. Such activities often result in oil spills that that the polar bears. The oil spills also deplete seals which are the foods of the polar bears. The climatic changes which trigger the increase in temperature, the precipitation and salinity are estimated to have drastic impacts on the physiological processes of the species. Both reproduction and survivability of polar bear will be significantly affected. In this instance, the rate of population of the polar bears will go down because the pregnancy rates will fall. Similarly, only few polar bears will be able to survive the season that high temperatures have melted the ice. The change in the