Polar bear stands on sea ice looking at camera with “did you know?” fact at the bottom.
Same image of polar bear with text overlaid describing a pregnant polar bear’s fasting period.
References:
1. Messier, F., M.K. Taylor, and M.A. Ramsay. 1994. Denning ecology of polar bears in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Journal of Mammalogy 75:420–430. doi: 10.2307/1382563
2. Ursus maritimus (Polar bear) (webpage). International Association for Bear Research and Management.
3. Rode, K.D., J.D. Reist, E. Peacock, and I. Stirling. 2010. Comments in response to “Estimating the energetic contribution of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) summer diets to the total energy budget” by Dyck and Kebreab (2009). Journal of Mammalogy 91:1517–1523. doi: 10.1644/09-MAMM-A-399.1
4. Rode, K.D., C.T. Robbins, L. Nelson, and S.C. Amstrup. 2015. Can polar bears use terrestrial foods to offset lost ice-based hunting opportunities? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 13:138–145. doi: 10.1890/140202
5. Stirling, I., and A.E. Derocher. 2012. Effects of climate warming on polar bears: a review of the evidence. Global Change Biology 18:2694–2706. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02753.x
6. Robbins, C.T., C. Lopez-Alfaro, K.D. Rode, Ø. Tøien, and O.L. Nelson. 2012. Hibernation and seasonal fasting in bears: the energetic costs and consequences for polar bears. Journal of Mammalogy 93:1493–1503. doi: 10.1644/11-MAMM-A-406.1
Same image of polar bear with infographic over top, showing a general timeline of a year in a polar bear’s life.
References:
1. Messier, F., M.K. Taylor, and M.A. Ramsay. 1994. Denning ecology of polar bears in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Journal of Mammalogy 75:420–430. doi: 10.2307/1382563
2. Ursus maritimus (Polar bear) (webpage). International Association for Bear Research and Management.
3. Rode, K.D., J.D. Reist, E. Peacock, and I. Stirling. 2010. Comments in response to “Estimating the energetic contribution of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) summer diets to the total energy budget” by Dyck and Kebreab (2009). Journal of Mammalogy 91:1517–1523. doi: 10.1644/09-MAMM-A-399.1
4. Rode, K.D., C.T. Robbins, L. Nelson, and S.C. Amstrup. 2015. Can polar bears use terrestrial foods to offset lost ice-based hunting opportunities? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 13:138–145. doi: 10.1890/140202
5. Stirling, I., and A.E. Derocher. 2012. Effects of climate warming on polar bears: a review of the evidence. Global Change Biology 18:2694–2706. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02753.x
6. Robbins, C.T., C. Lopez-Alfaro, K.D. Rode, Ø. Tøien, and O.L. Nelson. 2012. Hibernation and seasonal fasting in bears: the energetic costs and consequences for polar bears. Journal of Mammalogy 93:1493–1503. doi: 10.1644/11-MAMM-A-406.1
Did you know? 🐻❄️
Pregnant female polar bears can fast for up to 8 months a year.
Want to learn more about bears? Check out our species pages and explore the fascinating adaptations of all 8 bear species: www.bearbiology.org/the-eight-be...
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