Dietary flexibility
Although seal predation is the primary and an indispensable way of life for most polar bears, when alternatives are present they are quite flexible. Polar bears will consume a wide variety of other wild foods, including muskox (Ovibos moschatus), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus),.[87] birds, eggs, rodents, crabs, other crustaceans and other polar bears. They may also eat plants,.[87] including berries, roots, and kelp,[87] however none of these are a significant part of their diet,[78] except that beachcast marine mammal carcasses are an exception.[88] When stalking land animals, such as muskox, reindeer.[87] and even willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus), polar bears appear to make use of vegetative cover and wind direction to bring them as close to their prey as possible before attacking. Polar bears have been observed to hunt the small Svalbard reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus), which weigh only 40 to 60 kg (90 to 130 lb) as adults, as well as the Barren-ground caribou (R. t. groenlandicus), which is about twice as heavy as that.[89][90][91] Adult muskox, which can weigh 450 kg (1,000 lb) or more, are a more formidable quarry.[92] Although ungulates are not typical prey, the killing of one during the summer months can exponentially increase the odds of survival during that lean period. Like the brown bear, most ungulate prey of polar bears is likely to be young, sickly or injured specimens rather than healthy adults.[90] The polar bear's biology is specialized to require large amounts of fat from marine mammals, and it cannot derive sufficient caloric intake from terrestrial food.[93][94]
In their southern range, especially near Hudson Bay and James Bay Canada polar bears live all summer without sea ice.[87] Here their food ecology shows their dietary flexibility. They still manage to consume some seals, but they are food-deprived in summer as only marine mammal carcasses are an important alternative without sea ice,[95] especially carcasses of the bowhead whale.[96] These alternatives may reduce the rate of weight loss of bears when on land.[97] One scientist found that 71% of the Hudson Bay bears had fed on seaweed (marine algae) and that about half were feeding on birds [73] like sea ducks, especially the oldsquaw (53%), common eider, long-tailed duck or dovekieby swimming underwater to catch them. They were also diving to feed on blue mussels and other underwater food sources like the green sea urchin. 24% had eaten moss recently, 19% had consumed grass, 34% had eaten black crowberry and about half had consumed willows.[87] This study illustrates the polar bear's dietary flexibility but it does not represent its life history elsewhere. Most polar bears elsewhere will never have access to these alternatives, except for the marine mammal carcasses that are important wherever they occur.
Behavior
Polar bear males frequently play-fight. During the mating season, actual fighting is intense and often leaves scars or broken teeth.
Unlike grizzly bears, polar bears are not territorial. Although stereotyped as being voraciously aggressive, they are normally cautious in confrontations, and often choose to escape rather than fight.[98] Satiated polar bears rarely attack humans unless severely provoked. However, due to their lack of prior human interaction, hungry polar bears are extremely unpredictable, fearless towards people and are known to kill and sometimes eat humans.[82] Many attacks by brown bears are the result of surprising the animal, which is not the case with the polar bear. Polar bears are stealth hunters, and the victim is often unaware of the bear's presence until the attack is underway.[99] Whereas brown bears often maul a person and then leave, polar bear attacks are more likely to be predatory and are almost always fatal.[99] However, due to the very small human population around the Arctic, such attacks are rare. Michio Hoshino, a Japanese wildlife photographer, was once pursued briefly by a hungry male polar bear in northern Alaska. According to Hoshino, the bear started running but Hoshino made it to his truck. The bear was able to reach the truck and tore one of the doors off the truck before Hoshino was able to drive off.[100]
In general, adult polar bears live solitary lives. Yet, they have often been seen playing together for hours at a time and even sleeping in an embrace,[82] and polar bear zoologist Nikita Ovsianikov has described adult males as having "well-developed friendships."[98] Cubs are especially playful as well. Among young males in particular, play-fighting may be a means of practicing for serious competition during mating seasons later in life.[101] Polar bears have a wide range of vocalisations, including bellows, roars, growls, chuffs and purrs.[102]
In 1992, a photographer near Churchill took a now widely circulated set of photographs of a polar bear playing with a Canadian Eskimo Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) a tenth of its size.[103][104] The pair wrestled harmlessly together each afternoon for ten days in a row for no apparent reason, although the bear may have been trying to demonstrate its friendliness in the hope of sharing the kennel's food.[103] This kind of social interaction is uncommon; it is far more typical for polar bears to behave aggressively towards dogs,[103] however dogs are the bears closest relative as in the bear dog.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Cubs are born helpless, and typically nurse for two and a half years.
Courtship and mating take place on the sea ice in April and May, when polar bears congregate in the best seal hunting areas.[105] A male may follow the tracks of a breeding female for 100 km (60 mi) or more, and after finding her engage in intense fighting with other males over mating rights, fights which often result in scars and broken teeth.[105] Polar bears have a generally polygynous mating system; recent genetic testing of mothers and cubs, however, has uncovered cases of litters in which cubs have different fathers.[106] Partners stay together and mate repeatedly for an entire week; the mating ritual induces ovulation in the female.[107]
After mating, the fertilized egg remains in a suspended state until August or September. During these four months, the pregnant female eats prodigious amounts of food, gaining at least 200 kg (440 lb) and often more than doubling her body weight.[105]
Maternity denning and early life
A female emerging from her maternity den
When the ice floes break up in the fall, ending the possibility of hunting, each pregnant female digs a maternity den consisting of a narrow entrance tunnel leading to one to three chambers.[105] Most maternity dens are in snowdrifts, but may also be made underground in permafrost if it is not sufficiently cold yet for snow.[105] In most subpopulations, maternity dens are situated on land a few kilometers from the coast, and the individuals in a subpopulation tend to reuse the same denning areas each year.[30] The polar bears that do not den on land make their dens on the sea ice. In the den, she enters a dormant state similar to hibernation. This hibernation-like state does not consist of continuous sleeping; however, the bear's heart rate slows from 46 to 27 beats per minute.[108] Her body temperature does not decrease during this period as it would for a typical mammal in hibernation.[51][109]
Between November and February, cubs are born blind, covered with a light down fur, and weighing less than 0.9 kg (2.0 lb),[107] but in captivity they might be delivered in the earlier months. The earliest recorded birth of polar bears in captivity was on 11 October 2011 in the Toronto Zoo.[110] On average, each litter has two cubs.[105] The family remains in the den until mid-February to mid-April, with the mother maintaining her fast while nursing her cubs on a fat-rich milk.[105] By the time the mother breaks open the entrance to the den, her cubs weigh about 10 to 15 kilograms (22 to 33 lb).[105] For about 12 to 15 days, the family spends time outside the den while remaining in its vicinity, the mother grazing on vegetation while the cubs become used to walking and playing.[105] Then they begin the long walk from the denning area to the sea ice, where the mother can once again catch seals.[105] Depending on the timing of ice-floe breakup in the fall, she may have fasted for up to eight months.[105]
A cub nursing
Cubs may fall prey to wolves or to starvation. Female polar bears are noted for both their affection towards their offspring[citation needed], and their valiance in protecting them[citation needed]. One case of adoption of a wild cub has been confirmed by genetic testing.[106] Adult male bears occasionally kill and eat polar bear cubs,[111] for reasons that are unclear.[112] As of 2006, in Alaska, 42% of cubs now reach 12 months of age, down from 65% 15 years ago.[113] In most areas, cubs are weaned at two and a half years of age,[105] when the mother chases them away or abandons them. The western coast of Hudson Bay is unusual in that its female polar bears sometimes wean their cubs at only one and a half years.[105] This was the case for 40% of cubs there in the early 1980s; however by the 1990s, fewer than 20% of cubs were weaned this young.[114] After the mother leaves, sibling cubs sometimes travel and share food together for weeks or months.[82]
Later life
Females begin to breed at the age of four years in most areas, and five years in the Beaufort Sea area.[105] Males usually reach sexual maturity at six years; however, as competition for females is fierce, many do not breed until the age of eight or ten.[105] A study in Hudson Bay indicated that both the reproductive success and the maternal weight of females peaked in their mid-teens.[115]
Polar bears appear to be less affected by infectious diseases and parasites than most terrestrial mammals.[112] Polar bears are especially susceptible to Trichinella, a parasitic roundworm they contract thro
Dietary flexibility
Although seal predation is the primary and an indispensable way of life for most polar bears, when alternatives are present they are quite flexible. Polar bears will consume a wide variety of other wild foods, including muskox (Ovibos moschatus), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus),.[87] birds, eggs, rodents, crabs, other crustaceans and other polar bears. They may also eat plants,.[87] including berries, roots, and kelp,[87] however none of these are a significant part of their diet,[78] except that beachcast marine mammal carcasses are an exception.[88] When stalking land animals, such as muskox, reindeer.[87] and even willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus), polar bears appear to make use of vegetative cover and wind direction to bring them as close to their prey as possible before attacking. Polar bears have been observed to hunt the small Svalbard reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus), which weigh only 40 to 60 kg (90 to 130 lb) as adults, as well as the Barren-ground caribou (R. t. groenlandicus), which is about twice as heavy as that.[89][90][91] Adult muskox, which can weigh 450 kg (1,000 lb) or more, are a more formidable quarry.[92] Although ungulates are not typical prey, the killing of one during the summer months can exponentially increase the odds of survival during that lean period. Like the brown bear, most ungulate prey of polar bears is likely to be young, sickly or injured specimens rather than healthy adults.[90] The polar bear's biology is specialized to require large amounts of fat from marine mammals, and it cannot derive sufficient caloric intake from terrestrial food.[93][94]
In their southern range, especially near Hudson Bay and James Bay Canada polar bears live all summer without sea ice.[87] Here their food ecology shows their dietary flexibility. They still manage to consume some seals, but they are food-deprived in summer as only marine mammal carcasses are an important alternative without sea ice,[95] especially carcasses of the bowhead whale.[96] These alternatives may reduce the rate of weight loss of bears when on land.[97] One scientist found that 71% of the Hudson Bay bears had fed on seaweed (marine algae) and that about half were feeding on birds [73] like sea ducks, especially the oldsquaw (53%), common eider, long-tailed duck or dovekieby swimming underwater to catch them. They were also diving to feed on blue mussels and other underwater food sources like the green sea urchin. 24% had eaten moss recently, 19% had consumed grass, 34% had eaten black crowberry and about half had consumed willows.[87] This study illustrates the polar bear's dietary flexibility but it does not represent its life history elsewhere. Most polar bears elsewhere will never have access to these alternatives, except for the marine mammal carcasses that are important wherever they occur.
Behavior
Polar bear males frequently play-fight. During the mating season, actual fighting is intense and often leaves scars or broken teeth.
Unlike grizzly bears, polar bears are not territorial. Although stereotyped as being voraciously aggressive, they are normally cautious in confrontations, and often choose to escape rather than fight.[98] Satiated polar bears rarely attack humans unless severely provoked. However, due to their lack of prior human interaction, hungry polar bears are extremely unpredictable, fearless towards people and are known to kill and sometimes eat humans.[82] Many attacks by brown bears are the result of surprising the animal, which is not the case with the polar bear. Polar bears are stealth hunters, and the victim is often unaware of the bear's presence until the attack is underway.[99] Whereas brown bears often maul a person and then leave, polar bear attacks are more likely to be predatory and are almost always fatal.[99] However, due to the very small human population around the Arctic, such attacks are rare. Michio Hoshino, a Japanese wildlife photographer, was once pursued briefly by a hungry male polar bear in northern Alaska. According to Hoshino, the bear started running but Hoshino made it to his truck. The bear was able to reach the truck and tore one of the doors off the truck before Hoshino was able to drive off.[100]
In general, adult polar bears live solitary lives. Yet, they have often been seen playing together for hours at a time and even sleeping in an embrace,[82] and polar bear zoologist Nikita Ovsianikov has described adult males as having "well-developed friendships."[98] Cubs are especially playful as well. Among young males in particular, play-fighting may be a means of practicing for serious competition during mating seasons later in life.[101] Polar bears have a wide range of vocalisations, including bellows, roars, growls, chuffs and purrs.[102]
In 1992, a photographer near Churchill took a now widely circulated set of photographs of a polar bear playing with a Canadian Eskimo Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) a tenth of its size.[103][104] The pair wrestled harmlessly together each afternoon for ten days in a row for no apparent reason, although the bear may have been trying to demonstrate its friendliness in the hope of sharing the kennel's food.[103] This kind of social interaction is uncommon; it is far more typical for polar bears to behave aggressively towards dogs,[103] however dogs are the bears closest relative as in the bear dog.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Cubs are born helpless, and typically nurse for two and a half years.
Courtship and mating take place on the sea ice in April and May, when polar bears congregate in the best seal hunting areas.[105] A male may follow the tracks of a breeding female for 100 km (60 mi) or more, and after finding her engage in intense fighting with other males over mating rights, fights which often result in scars and broken teeth.[105] Polar bears have a generally polygynous mating system; recent genetic testing of mothers and cubs, however, has uncovered cases of litters in which cubs have different fathers.[106] Partners stay together and mate repeatedly for an entire week; the mating ritual induces ovulation in the female.[107]
After mating, the fertilized egg remains in a suspended state until August or September. During these four months, the pregnant female eats prodigious amounts of food, gaining at least 200 kg (440 lb) and often more than doubling her body weight.[105]
Maternity denning and early life
A female emerging from her maternity den
When the ice floes break up in the fall, ending the possibility of hunting, each pregnant female digs a maternity den consisting of a narrow entrance tunnel leading to one to three chambers.[105] Most maternity dens are in snowdrifts, but may also be made underground in permafrost if it is not sufficiently cold yet for snow.[105] In most subpopulations, maternity dens are situated on land a few kilometers from the coast, and the individuals in a subpopulation tend to reuse the same denning areas each year.[30] The polar bears that do not den on land make their dens on the sea ice. In the den, she enters a dormant state similar to hibernation. This hibernation-like state does not consist of continuous sleeping; however, the bear's heart rate slows from 46 to 27 beats per minute.[108] Her body temperature does not decrease during this period as it would for a typical mammal in hibernation.[51][109]
Between November and February, cubs are born blind, covered with a light down fur, and weighing less than 0.9 kg (2.0 lb),[107] but in captivity they might be delivered in the earlier months. The earliest recorded birth of polar bears in captivity was on 11 October 2011 in the Toronto Zoo.[110] On average, each litter has two cubs.[105] The family remains in the den until mid-February to mid-April, with the mother maintaining her fast while nursing her cubs on a fat-rich milk.[105] By the time the mother breaks open the entrance to the den, her cubs weigh about 10 to 15 kilograms (22 to 33 lb).[105] For about 12 to 15 days, the family spends time outside the den while remaining in its vicinity, the mother grazing on vegetation while the cubs become used to walking and playing.[105] Then they begin the long walk from the denning area to the sea ice, where the mother can once again catch seals.[105] Depending on the timing of ice-floe breakup in the fall, she may have fasted for up to eight months.[105]
A cub nursing
Cubs may fall prey to wolves or to starvation. Female polar bears are noted for both their affection towards their offspring[citation needed], and their valiance in protecting them[citation needed]. One case of adoption of a wild cub has been confirmed by genetic testing.[106] Adult male bears occasionally kill and eat polar bear cubs,[111] for reasons that are unclear.[112] As of 2006, in Alaska, 42% of cubs now reach 12 months of age, down from 65% 15 years ago.[113] In most areas, cubs are weaned at two and a half years of age,[105] when the mother chases them away or abandons them. The western coast of Hudson Bay is unusual in that its female polar bears sometimes wean their cubs at only one and a half years.[105] This was the case for 40% of cubs there in the early 1980s; however by the 1990s, fewer than 20% of cubs were weaned this young.[114] After the mother leaves, sibling cubs sometimes travel and share food together for weeks or months.[82]
Later life
Females begin to breed at the age of four years in most areas, and five years in the Beaufort Sea area.[105] Males usually reach sexual maturity at six years; however, as competition for females is fierce, many do not breed until the age of eight or ten.[105] A study in Hudson Bay indicated that both the reproductive success and the maternal weight of females peaked in their mid-teens.[115]
Polar bears appear to be less affected by infectious diseases and parasites than most terrestrial mammals.[112] Polar bears are especially susceptible to Trichinella, a parasitic roundworm they contract thro
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..