Jeremiah Billings
Chuck Justin
ENG 112-007
Argument
18 March 2013
Polar Bear Population Decline
The polar bear is a majestic and a very well adapted animal for the cold climate conditions they preside in. There is only one problem; they are slowly disappearing as a species. Due to multiple factors such as pollution and the ice land they live on melting away they are now the victim of being a dying species.
Polar Bears, or Ursus maritimus, live in the arctic at the top of the world. Much of the arctic water is covered in ice and their home (Polar Bears). Polar Bears are generally the symbol of the arctic. They are the world’s largest land predator and the biggest member of the bear family. Polar bears have heavy fur, blubber up to four inches thick, and black skin that helps them soak up heat from the sun all these factors are why the polar bears live in the cold region so well (Earthjustice). Most polar bears travel and live on the ice and use it to hunt seal for food. Not all polar bears always travel by land or ice because they are also very strong swimmers and can swim up to sixty miles without rest. Most of the bears live mid-arctic because the ice is not as thick as it is in the north and the seals stay near areas where ice is not as thick to eat. During the time of the year when the ice melts there is not enough room for all of them. So some head north and continue to live on the ice and others head south and live in the forest like brown bears and live off of wild berries. When winter and spring seasons return the polar bears from the north migrate back down and the ones in the south travel back north. During these migratory times polar bears can travel hundreds of miles and generally come back to the place they learned to hunt as cubs every year (Polar Bears).
The melting ice is making these majestic animals more scarce slowly but surely. Without ice polar bears cannot hunt. Every year the ice melts sooner and sooner which is giving the...