The Best Of Polar Bears | BBC Earth

In the Arctic, millions of square kilometers of empty ice,

polar

bears

are typically solitary. You'd think finding a mate in this desolate landscape would be a challenge, but they have an excellent sense of smell and can spot another Over the Horizon bear. Male

bears

can spend weeks tracking the scent of a female that is ready to mate. She laughs. They sniff each other closely to evaluate each other. She will raise the Cubs on her own and dedicate herself to them for two or three years. It's a big commitment of time and effort, so it's vital to choose. a male who will provide strong and healthy genes for her offspring it seems that she is going to test this potential suitor she needs him up and down the slopes it is as if she is testing his physical condition they begin to play courtship it is one of the Rare times the adult animals play together outside, this slope is quite steep for the heavier male, it's not good that he can't handle it, but she seems to have decided it could be him, while he seems to have lost interest in chasing. and she has a few tricks up her sleeve that were enough to draw him back in.

Everyone is safe on land, but could still face months of hunger. Finding food is not so easy on this cold and arid coast. The search can be long. Polar bears have an extraordinarily sensitive sense of smell and she has caught a faint whiff of something promising: it is the immense carcass of a bowhead whale. A whale carcass might provide more than any family could eat, but they're not the first here to find out by any means the smell has brought bears from miles away bear families rarely get along abroad she's taking a risk in bringing her Cubs here Male bears can kill and eat small cubs, and they do, another family questions her if she should compete for food abroad or run away and starve she keeps her Cubs close to her and stands her ground Their mother's courage has earned the Cubs a meal.

Exhausted from their swim, the bear must regain his strength the next day. A sea fog envelops the island. The walruses sense that they are in danger. Using the focus deck, the bear approaches. The herd. alien closes ranks around her babies presenting a wall of fat and skin but gets up first it seems that the world's largest land carnivore has met its match there must be a in the armor Somewhere not here, this female walrus is protecting her cub, if only I could tear it from the bear's claws and teeth can't penetrate its thick fur. Abroad, with the pack retreating to the water, the bear must move quickly, having missed one, it heads straight for another. the chance of his first meal in months is slipping away oh he seems increasingly desperate it's now or never he must avoid the barbed fangs if it's the wind the flailing walrus is immensely powerful and drags the bear away from the shallows to safety from the pack thanks slips out of her hands it's March and the light returns to the high Arctic sweeping away four months of darkness a

polar

bear moves she has been in her den all winter her appearance marks the beginning of spring after months of confinement underground she sleds down the slope perhaps to clean her fur perhaps out of sheer joy her cubs look out from their bright new world for the first time the female calls them but this steep slope is not the easiest place to take their first steps but They are hungry and eager to reach their mother who was late in feeding them on this special day and is now luring them with the promise of milk, the only food they have known since they were born deaf and blind under the snow about two months ago.

Series. Her mother hasn't eaten in five months. and has lost half of his body weight now he converts the last reserves of fat into milk for his cups the spring sand brings warmth but it is also a problem for the mother it begins to melt the sea ice which is where it hunts the seals it needs to feed to his Cubs and must get there before the ice breaks up. For now, although the Cubs must have the shelter of the den at this time of year, polar bears on average only manage one hunt in 20 if the hunter is thin like This one, which may not be frequent enough, all she can do is keep trying to keep its scent from betraying her.

She makes a wide sweep to go downwind of the approaching seal. Now she is right behind the seal. Incredibly, she caught the seal underwater is only small but still its fat alone will contain one hundred thousand calories enough to sustain the surplus for a week; She might even catch another one, but this can't go on forever as the summer continues, the temperatures rise, each hunt requires more energy, depleting the bears of their reserves. I really hope Lyra and Mickey are back and we're lucky our family is back, but Lyra's behavior is different, it's interesting, she's coming towards us, it's not here, she's going, you know, it's okay, Lyra is getting closer a little more, this is where I start. getting a little nervous, okay, I can see you're sniffing there and I'm a little worried that it's a smell coming from me that's getting your attention, this isn't a bear, it's very scared, it's a beer. that's finding out what's going on if there's a chance to feed us here we're completely downwind so Mickey has a good sense of us here the liar has always stayed away from us and kept a personal distance and right at the moment it's La first time in the last year I've been with her that she actually turned around and came towards us and her body movement and posture that worries me a little bit when she's tense, she basically puts her front legs forward and builds a stance. like a spring ready to take off, you know, when they come towards you, the initial speed is incredibly fast.

This is the first time I felt threatened by Lyra. If she comes, you drop everything, you drop the monitor, you drop the camera. Jason, is she safe there? and just takes one more photo of Lyra. I don't like it, okay, we should back off then, sure, if you don't like it, I'd rather back off now, please, Gordon, okay, bright light, close enough for now despite the fact. that she hasn't been aggressive with us at all a point where she sees me differently than she sees me and things possibly this is something I can eat maybe this is my next meal we can be safe but I'm very worried about Lyra and Mickey Alien