Family Life |
Polar bears are usually solitary animals but in southern areas of the
Arctic they gather together on land during the ice-free season. Breeding
pairs remain together for about a week then separate. The most constant
social interaction occurs between mothers and cubs.
In the late autumn, pregnant females dig dens in deep snow drifts on
land while the rest of the population remains active on the ice through
the winter. In the Beaufort Sea, some polar bears dig maternity dens in
snow drifts on multi-year ice floes, while in western and southern
Hudson Bay cubs can be born in dens excavated in frozen peat banks.
After about two months, the cubs are born in the den.
There are usually two cubs, each weighing around 600 g (1.3 lbs) and
about the size of a guinea pig. Cubs are nursed in the den on fat-rich
milk until they weigh about 10 kg (22 lbs) and are large enough to
venture onto the sea ice in March or April. Most places they stay with
their mother for about 2.5 years before striking out on their own.
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