The rhyme “if it's brown, lay down, if it's black, fight back, if it's white, say goodnight” supposedly advises what to do if you’re attacked by different types of bears. It also gives you an idea of how expertly polar bears can take down their prey.

According to the ditty, brown bears typically attack when they feel threatened so showing you’re no risk to them (or their cubs, if you come across a momma bear) by playing dead is your best chance to be left alone. If a black bear is coming for you, it’s likely going for the kill so do everything you can to fight back (remember, black bears often look brown in colour).

polar bear yawning — Adam Wang/Getty Images

Whether it’s a black or brown bear, experts agree that bear spray is the best way to stay safe (check it’s legal in the region you’re visiting): know how to use it ahead of time and keep it easily accessible. It can’t help if it’s buried at the bottom of your bag.

It's the largest, most powerful and deadliest bear on the planet – AND views us as prey, able to make short work of our puny bodies...

But if you’re up against a polar bear, you might be out of luck – avoid putting yourself in this situation at all costs. Although their white, fluffy fur might make polar bears look cute in photos, these animals have a reputation for being fearsome hunters with no natural predators.

Can a human outrun a bear?

So, can anything kill a polar bear?

Polar bear vs orca

orca jumping — Laura Hedien/Getty Images

If any Arctic species was to try to take on a polar bear, killer whales might have a good chance of success. After all, orcas are extremely intelligent and are even known to hunt and kill blue whales.

There are different types of orcas, known as ecotypes, which have different characteristics. Bigg’s killer whales – also known as transient orcas – hunt mammals and are known to travel to the Arctic. These massive mammals can grow to more than eight metres and 6,600 kg (females reach around seven metres and 4700kg). Could they be a match for a polar bear (the very largest of which can sometimes grow to around 800kg but usually weigh between 350 and 600kg)?

Perhaps they could, but this is only speculation. There are no confirmed records of orcas hunting polar bears (although plenty of fake AI videos trying to spread this false news).

Similarly, there’s no documentation of polar bears hunting orcas. Nor is there scientific evidence of polar bears eating orca flesh – although that’s not to say that these scavengers wouldn’t tuck into the energy-dense blubber if they came across a killer whale carcass.

One reason we haven’t yet seen orcas and polar bears coming to blows could be because of their different habitats. Although both are found in the Arctic, polar bears spend most of their lives on sea ice while killer whales avoid the ice because they might get trapped.

Will climate change put the two in each other’s path more often – and who would come out the victor? That remains to be seen.

Polar bear vs walrus

BBC Natural History/Getty Images

Polar bears hunt walruses, although they usually target calves or weak individuals; going after a healthy adult is a huge risk. If a walrus lands a blow on the bear while defending itself with its impressive tusks, it could do the polar bear serious damage.

An adult male walrus can weigh up to 1,557kg and their metre-long tusks are designed to do damage in a fight. This might be why polar bears may throw rocks at walruses to hurt them without getting injured themselves.

Polar bears have been seen with injuries after a tussle with walruses but, currently, there’s no scientific evidence confirming the wound was fatal.

Polar bear vs wolverine

Polar bears love to eat seals because their ample blubber gives them plenty of calories to keep them going between feeds. At no more than 18kg, wolverines wouldn’t touch the sides.

But could the tables be turned? Wolverines are renowned for being ferocious animals that will take on animals much bigger than themselves. There’s a widespread rumour that a wolverine in a zoo once escaped from its enclosure, tracked down a polar bear in the same park, latched onto its neck and killed it. But, although this tale is repeated on many websites and forums, there don’t seem to be any robust sources backing it up.

"Swarms attack and dismember anything in their path, piece by piece..." 10 brutal and savage animals that can kill and devour prey twice their size

With no solid evidence that wolverines attack or kill polar bears in either captivity or the wild, the chances of this happening are incredibly low.

One of the world's fiercest warriors, this is a formidable predator with powerful jaws capable of crushing bone

Polar bear vs grizzly bear

A large Grizzly Bear shows its teeth while struggling to find food after the seasons first snowfall — Scott Suriano/Getty Images

For something to have a chance against a polar bear, it would need to be big and powerful.

Although brown bears don’t grow as large as polar bears, they do come close with large adult male Kodiak bears (a type of brown bear) tipping the scales at around 680kg. Plus, they can be very territorial, aggressive, and are good fighters.

Polar bears and grizzlies do sometimes come across each other, increasingly so with climate change impacting their habitats. When they meet, they can crossbreed, creating a grolar bear (grizzly bear father and polar bear mother) or pizzly bear (vice versa), although this is incredibly rare in the wild. In 2024, scientists analysed the genome of 819 polar and grizzly bears and found just eight hybrid individuals.

But would they ever fight – and who would win? A 2015 study found grizzly bears were dominant when both species were trying to feed on a bowhead whale carcass. The grizzlies were more likely to push the polar bears away from their meal than the other way around.

It weighs as much as a car, can sprint at 30mph, has dinner-plate paws armed with 3in claws – and jaws powerful enough to crush a human skull like an egg

Polar bear vs polar bear

polar bears fighting — Adam Wang/Getty Images

Sometimes, a polar bear might kill another polar bear – either by accident or intentionally.

In 2024, two captive polar bears in Calgary Zoo, Canada, were tussling playfully when one bit down on the other’s throat too hard and crushed his trachea. The victim drowned in the enclosure’s pool: all while visitors to the zoo looked on, horrified.

In the wild, polar bears are known to kill each other over territory, for mating rights or even for food. Adult males have been observed killing and eating cubs. Although mothers will try to defend their babies, they aren’t always successful.

Polar bear vs humans

Fierce female Polar bear threatens hunter about to pick up her cub in the Arctic. Two other hunters with guns stand by. — Christine Kohler/Getty Images

As usual, there is one species that can cause significant harm to this animal and its environment: humans. Polar bears are currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

These bears used to be commercially hunted for their fur, which impacted population numbers. Unregulated hunting was banned in 1973. Some Indigenous communities in the Arctic legally hunt polar bears for their meat and fur.

To protect bear populations, there is a quota dictating how many individuals can be caught each year. Trophy hunting is legal in Canada – the only country in the world that allows polar bears to be hunted for sport.

Climate change and habitat loss are now a concern for these majestic bears, which depend on the rapidly melting Arctic sea ice to live, breed and hunt. While bears in Svalbard have shown surprising resilience in the face of their changing environment, scientists have predicted that many subpopulations will be gone by the year 2100.

Can any animals kill a polar bear? 6 contenders that could just be brave enough to take on the deadliest, most powerful bear on the planet