#0109 · 🦊 mammals

Polar Bear

🇳🇱 IJsbeer ·Ursus maritimus

VUvulnerable 🦊 Mammals 📍 in Europe, not in NL

9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is a large bear, approximately the same size as the omnivorous Kodiak bear ( Ursus arctos middendorffi ). A boar (adult male) weighs around 350–700 kg (772–1,543 lb), while a sow (adult female) is about half that size. Polar bears are the largest land carnivores currently in existence, rivaled only...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 4,227iNaturalist observations
weight 450 kgadult, up to
lifespan 50 yrmaximum recorded
threat VUvulnerable

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
4,227 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs up to about 450 kg.
Can live up to 50 years.
Scientifically named by Constantine Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave in 1774 (252 years ago).
Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.