Polar Bear experts are on hand during Polar Bear Cam season to weigh in on your frequently asked questions!
Today’s Question: Where do polar bears live?
The polar bears seen sparring, sleeping, wandering, and munching kelp on the polar bear cam are on the shores of Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. “Roughly 60% of the world’s polar bear population live in Canada, but they are distributed throughout the circumpolar north in areas where they can hunt seals at their self-maintained breathing holes at cracks in the ice called leads,” said Dr. Ian Stirling, an adjunct professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta and polar bear biologist.
In addition to Canada, polar bears are found in the U.S. (Alaska), Greenland, Russia, and Norway (the Svalbard archipelago). “Scientists have identified 19 populations of polar bears living in four different ice eco-regions in the Arctic,” said Stirling. Using Polar Bears International’s Bear Tracker, you can see where polar bears roam in almost real time. (Actual locations are delayed by about a week for the safety of the bears.)
