Polar bear

How it lives

Polar bears mate on the sea ice in spring, from about March to May. Females first breed at about 4 years and males at about 6. A female usually has two cubs, born in a snow den in winter, and the cubs stay with her for about 2 to 2.5 years while they learn to hunt. Polar bears can live up to about 30 years.

Where it goes

In Greenland, polar bears can be found almost anywhere along the coast, but they are rare in inhabited areas. They travel along coastal ice floes all year and are more common in the colder months. Females dig snow dens on mountain slopes for the winter. One genetically distinct group lives year-round in the fjords of Southeast Greenland, another in the northeast. Exact movements of each Greenland group are still being studied.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

The world population is estimated at 22,000 to 31,000 bears in 19 subpopulations (IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group, based on Regehr et al., 2016). The IUCN lists the species as Vulnerable (2015), and the main threat is the loss of sea ice. Greenland holds parts of five subpopulations. Kane Basin has an estimate of 357 bears (2014) and is thought to have increased since 1997. Baffin Bay has an estimate of 2,826 (2013), trend unknown. Davis Strait has an estimate of 2,015 (2018) and is likely to have decreased from 2007 to 2018. East Greenland and the Arctic Basin have no abundance estimate. Southeast Greenland was recognised as its own subpopulation in 2024, and a first assessment is planned for 2025 to 2027. The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources began its largest aerial census of East Greenland in March 2023, and I did not find published results in the sources read. Hunting is allowed in four of the Greenland subpopulations, and the quota for 2022 was 155 bears.