Wild Personalities: All About Bears

Polar Bear

Scientific name: Ursus maritimus
Habitat: Arctic tundra
Size: 5 to 8 feet tall; 650 to 1,200 pounds
Diet: Carnivore
Life Expectancy: 21 to 25 years

There are few animals as closely associated with their location as polar bears are to the Arctic. Endemic to the icy tundra, they are not only the largest of the world’s eight bear species, but also the largest land carnivores. Uniquely adapted to survive in the harsh frozen tundra, polar bears are at the top of the food chain with no natural predators.

Although these bears appear white when you spot them on the pack ice, that’s just an illusion—their fur is comprised of clear, hollow keratin tubes filled with air that reflect the light of their snowy, white surroundings. Our keen-eyed naturalists will scan the seas night and day looking for telltale signs of these Kings of the Arctic. If spotted, try these polar photography tips to capture your best photo of a bear.

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Photo: Ralph Lee Hopkins

Grizzly Bear

Scientific Name: Ursus arctos horriblis
Habitat: North America, Europe, Alaska, Canada
Size: 5 to 8 feet long; 400 to 700 pounds
Diet: Omnivore
Life Expectancy: 20 to 25 years

Closely related to the brown bear, grizzly bears are a subspecies whose main differentiator is location. Grizzlies can be found in the interior of Alaska where they forage among the forests, fields, and streams for grasses, roots, berries, worms, and ants, as well as hunt for a range of prey from trout to squirrels to larger animals like elk.

Slightly lighter in color than their coastal cousins, their white tipped fur gives them a "grizzled" look, the source of their name. Also like a brown bear, grizzlies have a distingushable large shoulder hump, the result of a mass of muscles that give the bears additional strength both for digging and hunting. These communicative bears use a range of sounds, including grunts, growls, and moans, to converse with their young or potential mates and they rub their bodies on trees to alert other bears to their presence. 

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American Black Bear

Scientific Name: Ursus americanus
Habitat: Throughout North America, including northern Mexico
Size: 5 to 6 feet tall; 200 to 600 pounds
Diet: Omnivore
Life Expectancy: 20 years

If you live in North America, chances are you are familiar with black bears, since they’re the most common bear on the continent. They are also the smallest of the three North American species after polar bears and brown bears. Although black bears are sometimes mistaken for grizzlies, the easiest way to distinguish them is by the lack of a pronounced shoulder hump. Black bears also have more flattened noses and shorter claws than grizzlies.

These opportunistic carnivores will eat almost anything from nuts and pinecones in the spring to nutrient-rich salmon and meat in the summer and fall. (Black bears are also known to help themselves to your campsite goodies and will quickly adapt to human food sources, creating a danger to humans and bears alike.) Their fatty diet serves to insulate them from the cold winter months when they hibernate in their winter dens, reemerging from their fasting state in the spring.

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