Polar Bear
Ursus maritimus
Born on December 1, 1983, Kenda is the only surviving daughter of Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. Kenda currently weighs in at around 600 pounds. (When first born, she only weighed fourteen ounces.)
Polar bears give birth to 1-3 (usually 2) cubs in early winter while in their hibernation den. Unlike black (Ursus americanus) and brown bears (Ursus horribilus), only pregnant female polar bears go into hibernation. When the cubs are first born, they are hairless, blind and weigh less than a pound. Polar bear milk is extremely high in fat content, and the cubs grow quickly. They emerge from the den with their mother in late spring.
Polar bear cubs remain with their mother for over 2.5 years. While with their mother, cubs learn how to hunt ringed seals, young walrus and fish. They also learn to avoid large adult male bears, which can be very aggressive and are known to kill cubs. By the time they leave their mother, they are considered sub-adult (juvenile) bears.
Whereas summer and fall are considered bounty times for black and brown bears to gather food, it is a time of food scarcity for polar bears. Polar bears hunt on the pack ice which breaks up in late summer. During these leans months when seals can be hunted only with great difficulty, polar bears will scavenge carrion such as beached whales and will eat seaweed and lichen. Some bears may not eat for months.
When the ice reforms in the winter, bears resume their hunting. However, a hibernating pregnant female bear will not eat until the following spring. Once out of the den, female bears with cubs to feed often target seal birthing dens which contain seal pups. These young seals become an easy meal on which to raise a couple bear cubs.
While Kenda is not considered old for a bear in captivity, she would be if she were living in the wild. In the wild, male polar bears rarely live past the age of 18 and females often do not live more than 20-25 years.
Kenda's mother, Ursa Minor, died in July 2001 at the age of 36, one of the oldest captive polar bears. Ursa Major, Kenda's father, passed away at the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, Massachusetts in 2000.
Written by EcoTarium staff member Kathy Kennedy