Polar bear  (Ursus maritimus)

Range

This bear is found throughout the circumpolar Arctic on ice-covered waters, from Canada, to Norway, parts of the US, the former USSR and Greenland (Denmark). The furthest south the polar bears occur all year round is James Bay in Canada, which is about the same latitude as London (2). During the winter, when the ice extends further south, polar bears move as far south as Newfoundland and into the northern Bering Sea (2). They rarely enter the zone of the central polar basin as there is thick ice all year round and there is little to eat (2).

View a distribution map for this species at UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Habitat

The preferred habitat is the annual ice near the coastlines of continents and islands, where there are large numbers of ringed seals (Phoca hispida), on which these bears feed (2).

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