Polar bears range from Russia to Alaska, from Canada to Greenland, and onto Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. Biologists estimate there are 20,000 to 25,000 bears. About 60% of those bears live in Canada.

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Photo by Daniel J. Cox

Siku is now 7 ½ months old and weighs 57 kilograms (126 pounds).

A lot is happening in Siku’s life right now. We have changed his feeding routines so that he only gets milk two times a day (in a bowl), and during opening hours he only gets cow heart and the occasional apple. Because we didn’t need the mesh door in the little shed anymore, since we were not feeding him milk, we decided to board it up. That way it’s clearer for Siku that he will not be fed there anymore. He has investigated it a couple of times, but he hasn’t seemed too concerned about it being closed off. He likes to jump up and down the barrier, and we think he is having fun making a lot of sound banging on it.

We have started throwing bigger pieces of meat into his enclosure, making him search for them himself and using his paws and teeth to divide it. This is the way we feed the adult polar bears, and he needs to learn to be fed that way as well. After giving him his meat, he gets an apple in his little lake that he has to go out and get. At night, when we move him to the other enclosure, we always go to the indoor facility with him. There we feed him by hand still, and train with him. So now he knows how to search for food in the grass, go into the water after food, be hand fed, and to drink milk from a bowl.

We have decided to put up a barrier one meter away from Siku’s fence, so people can’t get so close anymore. This is because we have a lot more visitors now due to the summer vacation in Denmark, and people were sometimes dropping things in to Siku’s enclosure by accident. We don’t go in with him anymore so we can’t get the things out before the park closes, and Siku is a curious boy, investigating and mouthing everything he finds. It seems already that this is good solution, and Siku doesn’t seem to have noticed that people are a little bit farther away than usual. 

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Guest post by the Scandinavian Wildlife Park. Watch the Siku Live Cam here.

How do polar bears survive in an arctic environment? They’re built for it! Polar bears love the Arctic climate, where winter temperatures can plunge to -45º C (-50º F). Polar bears are insulated by two layers of fur that help keep them warm. They also have a thick fat layer. In addition, their compact ears and small tail also prevent heat loss. In fact, polar bears have more problems with overheating than they do from the cold —especially when they run.

Polar bear feet are furred and covered with small bumps called papillae to keep them from slipping on ice. Their sense of smell is powerful for detecting seals. And their powerful claws can haul out a 40-90 kg (150-200 lb) seal from the water for dinner.

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Guest post by Polar Bears International