About 27 thousand polar bears live in the Arctic today

The total number of polar bears throughout the Arctic is currently estimated by scientists at about 27 thousand individuals. This was announced by the Roszapovedcenter of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia in connection with the Polar Bear Day, which is celebrated in the world on February 27.
"The Arctic zone of our country and adjacent areas are inhabited by four subpopulations: Chukchi-Alaska, Barents Sea, Kara and Laptev. The most studied of them is Chukchi-Alaskan. Its population is about 3 thousand individuals, while about a third of all animals live on Wrangel Island," the agency said in a statement on its website.

The main purpose of the celebration of the Polar Bear Day is to draw attention to the topic of predator conservation and exchange information about the research of this red book animal.

According to experts, one of the main threats to the largest terrestrial predator on the planet is climate warming and human economic activity in the Arctic.
"Employees of specially protected natural areas make an invaluable contribution to the conservation of the polar bear. They conduct comprehensive research, as well as organize ecological and educational events on an ongoing basis, designed to tell not only about the peculiarities of reproduction, nutrition, behavior of this unique animal, but also the rules of behavior when meeting with the owner of the Arctic," the Roszapovedcenter noted.

To preserve the polar bear in Russia, the network of protected areas is expanding, today there are already ten such territories of federal significance.

As reported on the website of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, these are five state reserves - Wrangel Island, Bolshoy Arctic, Taimyrsky, Ust-Lensky, Bear Islands, three national parks - Russian Arctic, Beringia, Gydan and two reserves - Severozemelsky and "Novosibirsk Islands".

Scientists are doing a lot of work there to update data on the number of polar predator populations. To do this, a "White Bear Census" has been conducted since 2022.
To develop measures to preserve the bear, scientists study not only the number of animals, but also their habits. "Most polar bears sleep for 7-8 hours in a row. After a hearty lunch, they don't mind taking a nap. Despite their love of sleep, male polar bears do not hibernate like brown bears. This is done only by pregnant females to breed offspring. They can stay in a den with babies for up to six months," the Ministry of Natural Resources said.

Females give birth to one to three cubs every three years. A newborn cub weighs up to a kilogram, and after five years it turns into the largest terrestrial predator on the planet, whose body length reaches three meters and weight reaches 800 kilograms.

The cubs grow up with their mother for two years, and on the third they begin an independent life. Their main activities are recreation and hunting.

"For fun, clubfoot came up with a kind of game – tossing algae. They dive to the bottom of the ocean, tear up plants, and throw them at each other," the experts noted.

Polar bears are very clean. They are excellent swimmers - they can easily cover several tens of kilometers in calm water at a speed of up to seven kilometers per hour.
In addition, the predator is able to run at speeds up to 40 kilometers per hour.

Keeping a polar bear in the wild is one of the tasks of the Ministry of Natural Resources. The predator is listed in the Red Book of Russia. In 2022, the agency approved a strategy for the conservation of the polar bear in the Russian Federation until 2030.