Polar bears are among the most fearsome predators in the world – but they’re also some of the most charismatic. With no natural enemies (besides other polar bears), they reign as apex predators of the Arctic.
But being the top of the food chain doesn’t mean it’s all plain sailing. Polar bears feel the impact of climate change acutely. As Arctic ice continues to shrink, they face mounting challenges: less hunting ground, fewer cubs born and lower survival rates.
Polar bear on pack ice – areas of sea ice not attached to land – in the Svalbard archipelago between Norway and the North Pole (credit: Getty Images)Adult polar bear rests in the snow, conserving heat by tucking its paws underneath its body in the Arctic National Wildlife refuge, Alaska (credit: Getty Images)Two polar bears separated by two separate icebergs (credit: Getty Images)Not a commonly seen resting pose, but a comfortable-looking one nevertheless (credit: Getty Images)Mother polar bear with cub in Manitoba, Canada (credit: Getty Images)Polar bear stands on its hind legs near Churchill, a subarctic port town in Manitoba, Canada (credit: Getty Images)Polar bear mother and cub on a small island off Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The mother had detected a male close by and wanted to get the cub away. The cub followed mother down the rocky area and jumped on to her back and they swam away (credit: Getty Images)Polar bears fight for dominance, particularly during the mating season when males compete for access to females (credit: Getty Images)Polar bear jumps across ice floes, north of Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean (credit: Getty Images)Young cubs play alongside their mother in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada (credit: Getty Images)An adult female polar bear leads her two young cubs across the snow-driven shore of Hudson Bay in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada (credit: Getty Images)Polar bear with two cubs in a frozen landscape near Manitoba, Canada (credit: Getty Images)Two polar bears on a small ice floe. These areas of ice are shrinking year on year with the rising sea levels and impact of climate change (credit: Getty Images)Polar bear swims among icebergs near glacier in Fuglefjorden (Bird Fjord), Norway (credit: Getty Images)
