Which Arctic island is called the cradle of polar bears. King of the Arctic - Polar Bear. Visit to Wrangel Island

General information

There are 19 populations of polar bears in the Arctic - 20-25 thousand animals in total? In the Russian Arctic, polar bears live in the Barents, Kara, East Siberian, ChUkot seas, the Laptev Sea and in the northern part Bering Sea. They are listed in the federal and regional Red Books.

Dimensions: The length of the male reaches two and a half meters, its weight is 350-600 (up to 800) kilograms, the weight of the female is 200-300 kilograms.

Offspring: in November-January, the female gives birth to cubs (usually two). The cubs remain in the den until February-March.

Lifespan: 25-30 years old.

The brown bear and the polar bear have a common ancestor. Their habits differ somewhat from each other, but both are dangerous to humans. A polar bear senses prey several kilometers away, its sense of smell, vision and hearing are so developed. It catches seals, fish, and in times of famine eats chicks, carrion, and algae. Bears are extremely curious. They immediately set off to investigate any unfamiliar object on the shore.

Polar explorer Toptygin

One Nenets fairy tale tells how bears went towards each other: the white bear went south, and the brown bear went north. They came face to face and began to fight. The fight ended in a draw: the white one was stronger, and the brown one was more agile. And the bears decided: we are brothers, we will each live in our own areas so as not to disturb each other...

Polar and brown bears are indeed relatives; their common ancestors lived 150 thousand years ago. Now everyone has their own habitat, and from here - pdifferent habits and appearance.

The polar bear is a symbol of the Arctic: of the land mammals, only it lives on its drifting ice. The strongest survive in harsh conditionse.Sometimes you have to swim without stopping, overcomingrecord distances - up to 170 kilosmeters! And jump from ice floe to ice floe; even if the distance between them reaches six meters.

In European languages, the polar bear is called differently: northern, polar, ice. And its Latin name Ursus maritimus means “sea bear.” The life of a polar bear is completely dependent on the sea; here its main food is seals. On land, he does not go far from the shore: water is his salvation in case of danger.

Thick fur is excellent protection from frost. Subcutaneous fat up to ten centimeters thick also prevents freezing. Under the white fur, the bear's skin is black. And the fur actually only appears white or yellowish: these are hollow, colorless hairs that look like tubes. They let the sun's rays through, and black leather retains heat.

It happened that in zoos the fur coat of polar bears acquired a green tint: microscopic algae grew inside the fur. Although, in general, bears constantly monitor cleanliness: it is important that the fur does not lose its insulating properties.

Polar bears in the Red Book

Eskimos hunted polar bears
s, Chukchi and other peoples of the North. But they never hunted more animals than they needed. And they even asked each bear for forgiveness for being forced to kill it. Since masteringIn the Arctic, commercial fishing began, and the number of polar bears was rapidly declining. Animal rights activists have sounded the alarm.

In 1973, ArcticEuropean states have concluded an Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears. And in our country, hunting for them was banned back in 1938. Now only the indigenous peoples of the North can hunt bears, and a strictly defined number can be shot (the so-called quota).

In 2011, such hunting was banned in Russia. But the forecasts are still bad: in forty years, two-thirds of all polar bears will become extinct. Due to global warming, the ice is melting. But the bear only hunts sealson drifting ice floes. There are many oil and gas fields being developed in the Arctic, and because of this the sea is not becoming cleaner.

International Union for Conservation of Nature and natural resources included the polar bear in the Red Book of Critically Endangered Species. Wrangel Island and Herald Island, where the largest “maternity hospitals” of polar bears are located, have already been announced state reserve. Recently, Greenpeace activists from around the world dressed up as polar bears and took to the streets, calling on governments to abandon the development of the Arctic and create a nature reserve on its territory.

But what about the famous bear hibernation, if polar bears have winter all year round?

Yes, they sleep for a long time, but you can’t call it hibernation: their body temperature hardly decreases, and the bear can wake up at any moment. Where the climate is particularly harsh and the winds are strong - for example, in the Canadian Arctic - males can lie down in a snowy den in September, October and January. In the north of Taimyr, bears also sleep from mid-December to early February. Females stay in dens longer: in the middle of winter they give birth to cubs. They are very small: each weighs about 450 grams and fits in the palm of your hand, and their fur is more like fluff.

The mother bear's milk is fatty and nutritious, and the babies grow quickly. In March, they leave the snowy den and accompany their mother everywhere, gaining life experience.

Polar bears are friendly towards their relatives and often play with each other. If they find a dead whale carcass, they feast together.

Can brown and polar bears actually meet?

Yes, for example, in Chukotka and Alaska. But, contrary to the Nenets fairy tale, the polar bear will not mess with the brown one and will give way to him.

Man has long hunted polar bears with dogs. But hunting has long been prohibited, and bears and dogs sometimes even play.

IFAW International Fund for Animal Welfare

Do you know someone who has done something special for animals? Perhaps this person dedicated his life to saving animals in the reserve? Or advocated for animals as an environmental activist? Or did he carry out daring rescue operations?

Are you ready to take part in an action to protect polar bears? Visit the site www.ifaw.org/russia/- there you will find tasks for independent work, as well ascolorful booklets, posters and film.

Bibliographic list of references

1. Bashnaeva, T. Sheltered among the ice / T. Bashnaeva // Anthill. - 2010. - No. 10. - P. 23-25

Inhabitants of the Arctic reserve "Wrangel Island".

2. Begisheva, A. Your neighbors are sleeping... polar bears / A. Begisheva // GEO / GEO. - 2012. - No. 1. - P. 64-79.

3. Visiting the Ursa Major // Why and why. - 2011. - No. 10. - P. 6-9

Northern and South Pole. Earth's axis. Features of polar bears.

4. All sorts of stuff // Anthill. - 2013. - No. 1. - P. 17-19, 24-25

Brief funny notes about animals.

5. Dvoretskaya, G. Let's support Ursus maritimus! / G. Dvoretskaya // Murmansk Bulletin. - 2013. - February 28. (No. 36). - S. 1,2

Campaign “Let's save polar bears together” on International Polar Bear Day in Murmansk.

6. Elina, E. Polar explorer Toptygin / E. Elina // GEOlenok. - 2012. - No. 12 (98). - pp. 10-15

Habits and lifestyle of the polar bear.

7. Is the lion rightly called the king of beasts? // Fun lessons. - 2012. - No. 8. - P. 7

The largest and strongest predators among animals.

8 . Feklushin, V. Arctic / V. Feklushin // Children's Encyclopedia AiF. - 2013. - No. 1. - P. 1-56.

The issue is dedicated to the Arctic, which tells about famous polar explorers, how many difficulties and dangers they had to overcome, as well as about the unique nature of the North.

9. Shainyan, K. Human service / K. Shainyan // Around the world. - 2012. - No. 12. - P. 242-254.

What are the features of the life activity and body structure of polar bears? How these animals are studied, what is being done to preserve their populations.

Internet resources

Living symbol of the Arctic: [electronic resource] // IFAW International Fund for Animal Welfare: [website], 2013. - Access mode: http://www.ifaw.org/russia.

The polar bear is the largest animal not only among bears, but among all predators. There are huge males, whose body length reaches 280 cm, height at the withers – 150 cm, and weight – 800 kg; females are smaller and lighter.

The species is listed in the IUCN Red Book and the Russian Red Book. Limited hunting is permitted only for the indigenous population of the North.

Polar bears live in the polar regions in the northern hemisphere of the Earth. Distributed to the north - up to 88° N. sh., to the south - to Newfoundland, on the mainland - in the arctic desert zone to the tundra zone.

Polar bears are associated with drifting and fast ice all year round sea ​​ice. They come to land rarely and not for long. It happens that along with floating ice polar bears reach the shores of Iceland, even end up in the Okhotsk and Japanese sea. However, such animals always strive to return to their familiar ice environment; to do this, they make long journeys overland, moving strictly north.








In the harsh conditions of the Arctic, there is no usual alternation of day and night. There is no pronounced daily activity in the animals inhabiting it. However, not all polar bears go into hibernation, which is widely known for brown bears. Winter sleep is typical only for female bears who are about to become mothers, and elderly males, who are thus waiting out the most difficult time of the year. Strong, healthy males and non-pregnant females are usually active all year round, holed up in freshly dug dens in the snow only during heavy snowstorms






The polar bear, unlike its omnivorous relatives, is a predator that actively hunts large animals. Its main victims are Arctic seals, ringed seals, and bearded seals. Sometimes the bear hunts young animals of large marine mammals– walruses, beluga whales and narwhals. When the sea washes the corpse of a whale ashore, several predators gather near the carcass.

While on land, bears feed on bird eggs and lemmings. In addition, in the summer on the mainland and islands they eat cloudberries, and in the intertidal zone they eat algae such as kelp and fucus. After leaving the den, she-bears dig up the snow and eat willow shoots and sedge leaves.






Mating in polar bears occurs in spring or summer. Up to 3 and even up to 7 males gather around the female. The mating couple stays together for a short time, only while the female is in estrus, which is only 3 days.

The polar bear migrates widely from the coasts of the Arctic Ocean all the way to the Pole. But in the fall, pregnant females come to the land of the islands or mainland where they make a den. Long before hibernating, the female bear manages to gain enough fat, which she spends throughout the winter.

Pregnant females lie down in dens for winter sleep for up to six months, and births also occur here in the midst of severe winter. Usually 1-3 bear cubs appear. They are born blind, naked and deaf, weighing about 500-750 g. Polar bear milk is very fatty and nutritious. The cubs begin to see the light in a month, in the second month (weighing 10 kg) their teeth erupt, by this time the cubs begin to leave the den. The mother gradually accustoms them to cold, wind and light. And after another month or two, the family leaves the den completely and goes out onto the ice.

The cubs do not part with the mother bear for a year and a half. The female jealously protects her offspring, in particular from males, who are very dangerous for cubs.

Females reach sexual maturity at 4 years, males later










Polar bears do not stick to specific individual areas. Adult animals, as a rule, roam alone. Having caught a seal and having had enough, the predator sleeps right there, at the site of a successful hunt, and, waking up, wanders on.







In the vastness of the icy desert, it is difficult for such a giant to remain unnoticed for prey. His camouflage fur coat helps out the clubfoot. Freezing in place, the bear merges with the surrounding landscape. The seal will have no idea why the snowdrift suddenly rose and hit him with its paw.






Why is the bear white? If you look at it, this bear should be called not white, but colorless. It lacks the pigment that is responsible for the color of its fur. It is interesting to see a single hair under magnification. It turns out that it resembles a thin hollow tube. The inside of the tube is uneven. Due to this, the light is fragmented and reflected at different angles, which creates the appearance of white.

But the polar bear does not always appear as such a colorless person. In summer, under the influence of active sun, its coat acquires a yellow tint. There are polar bears with green stuff. You can usually see such specimens in climatic zones unusual for them. For example, in zoos in tropical countries. Bears turn green because microscopic algae grow in their hollow fur.


So, we found out that a polar bear can be white, yellow, and even green. But no matter what color its fur is, if we part it, we will find a dark, almost black animal! As dark as the tip of a bear's nose. This skin color contributes to the least heat transfer, which is important in the harsh polar climate. Well, Mother Nature simply endowed the polar bear with amazing coverings! Thanks to them, he will not freeze and will be able to feed himself.

Threats to the species:

For polar bears, the main natural limiting factor is the number and availability of seals. Low reproduction rates and relatively high mortality among bear cubs also limit population growth. Trichinosis, which is widespread among polar bears, apparently also causes some damage to the population. Long-term changes in numbers are apparently associated with cooling and warming climates in the Arctic. Among anthropogenic factors, illegal shooting (it took on a particularly large scale in Chukotka), habitat pollution, and disturbance factors have a negative impact on populations. A decrease in the number of seals can occur not only due to the influence of natural factors, but also due to human fault.


In captivity, a polar bear can live more than 30 years, but less in the wild.

In the Chukchi Sea on the Wrangel and Herald Islands there is the Wrangel Island Nature Reserve, which is considered the northernmost Far East. The area of ​​the protected area is more than two million hectares, with almost half of the area occupied by sea waters.

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The Northern Reserve “Wrangel Island” is famous for the fact that many polar bears give birth to their offspring here, and there is also a population in these parts white goose, considered the only one in Russia.

I would like to note that there are many different animals in the reserve, but the climate of the islands is especially attractive for polar bears, which have a relatively narrow habitat, and females choose small, poorly developed islands to give birth to their babies. It is not surprising that many call the territory of the Wrangel Island Nature Reserve a maternity hospital for polar bears.

Every year, on average, about five thousand pregnant polar bears swim to these places, and their dens can be located almost nearby. Best place for a bear rookery, these are the slopes of a mountain located near the seashore. Most often, female bears dig dens in the snow, and when the snow cover is small, the rookery is built in some kind of depression. Further snowfalls will complete the construction of the den and erect a snow ceiling and walls.

In the ceiling of her oval-shaped snow den, the bear makes a ventilation hole to regulate the temperature and humidity of the air. The exit from the rookery is located below, which also allows maintaining optimal temperature. Even in thirty-degree frosts in such a “house” it will be up to seven degrees warm.

The Wrangel Island Nature Reserve plays a huge role in maintaining the polar bear population, largely thanks to it, since the mid-eighties of the last century, there has been a positive growth trend for these rare animals.

What attracted the attention of UNESCO leadership on this relatively small island, remote from the mainland by the Long Strait and located on the border of the Western and Eastern hemispheres. Archaeological finds indicate that the first people hunted on the island as early as 1750 BC. This is both a “maternity hospital” for polar bears and the largest walrus rookery in the Arctic. What else is this island famous for?

ABOUT THE EXISTENCE OF A SOME ISLAND IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN Russian pioneers have been told since the middle of the 18th century. indigenous people of Chukotka and Eskimos of Alaska. Searched for this one with no luck mysterious island during 1820-1824 F.P.Wrangel. In fact, the island was first discovered by Europeans in 1849 by British explorer Henry Kellett, who named it Herald Island in honor of his ship. However, in 1867, the American whaler Thomas Long, who decided that he had met new island, named it Wrangel Island in honor of the then famous Russian navigator.

In 1881, American explorer Calvin Hooper declared the island a US territory. However, 30 years later, a Russian hydrographic expedition arrived on the island, surveyed the coast and raised its flag there. Later, the Canadians and the British sought to annex the island to their lands, but these attempts were unsuccessful. And in 1924, a Soviet expedition arrived on the island under the leadership of hydrographer B.V. Davydov, which raised the Soviet flag on the island and took out the settlers (American geologist Charles Wells and 12 Eskimos) left on the island by the Canadians. Later they were sent home through the city of Harbin.

It is interesting that the island’s ownership of any particular country has not yet been legally formalized. According to international law, it should belong to the United States, but its ownership of Russia is still not disputed by anyone.

Since 1926, Soviet settlers appeared on the island - 59 people (mostly Eskimos), who became the first residents of the village of Ushakovskoye and employees of the polar station. In the 1950-60s. Two more settlements were founded on the island and several military installations were built. At the beginning of 1980, about 200 people lived in the village of Ushakovskoye, there was a polar station and an airport that received helicopters and AN-2 planes. However, by the end of 1980, the military left the island, and in 1992 the radar station was also closed. Only Eskimos remained on the island in the village of Ushakovskoye. By 2003, the village was completely deserted (according to available information, the last resident of the village was eaten by a polar bear at the end of 2003).

IN 2010 THE WEATHER STATION WAS RESUMED WITH SIX EMPLOYEES . But in 2014, Wrangel Island again became the focus of military attention. The first base was founded here Pacific Fleet Russia, in a few months a military camp was built, a radar post and an aviation guidance point were founded.

What is the island like from the point of view natural object? Of 7670 sq. 2/3 km of area are mountains (highest point - 1096 m above sea level). There are about 900 small, shallow (depth no more than 2 m) lakes of various origins and about 150 small rivers and streams (only five of them are more than 50 km long). The low-lying shores are arctic tundra.

The island is distinguished by a rather harsh climate with the dominance of arctic cold, dry air. There is little precipitation - only about 135 mm/year. Winter is long and harsh. The air temperature in winter can drop to -30C -35C and below. Frosts are accompanied by frequent and strong gusty winds at a speed of 40 km/h or more, which further increases the severity winter days. People here are not spoiled by the rather cool summer, during which the air temperature rarely rises above +2 -40C, frosts and snowfall are frequent. Only in mountainous areas, protected from the winds, is it a little warmer and drier.

However, in late spring and summer (the warm period lasts only 20-25 days), nature still comes to life. The tundra is covered with carpets of different poppies, which create a very colorful picture. Along the coastal cliffs, thousands of different birds fill the air with their hubbub. At the same time, polar bears and cubs crawl out of their dens.

The flora and fauna of the island are unique in the Arctic in terms of their richness and level of endemism. Therefore, it, together with Herald Island and the adjacent waters of the Chukchi Sea, was recognized security zone and a reserve was created on their entire territory in 1976. The purpose of creating the reserve was to preserve and study the typical and unique ecosystems of the island part of the Arctic, as well as such animal species as the polar bear, walrus, the only large nesting colony of several tens of thousands of pairs of white geese that have survived in Russia and Asia.

The island's vegetation is distinguished by its rich ancient species composition. The number of species of vascular plants here is more than 310, while on the larger New Siberian Islands there are only 135, on Novaya Zemlya - about 65, on Franz Josef Land - less than 50. The flora of the island is rich in relics. There are also 114 species of rare and very rare plants. The peculiarities of the island's vegetation indicate that the original Arctic vegetation here was not destroyed by glaciers, and the sea did not allow later migrants to penetrate from the south to the island.

The modern vegetation cover corresponds to the vegetation of the Arctic desert - an open, low-growing cover of sedge-moss tundra. Only in the central part of the island are there thickets of willow trees up to 1 m high.

THE HARSH NATURAL CONDITIONS OF THE ISLAND ARE NOT FAVORABLE TO THE RICHNESS OF ANIMAL WORLD. There are absolutely no amphibians or reptiles in the reserve, and fish (cod, capelin) are found only in coastal waters. But there are many birds on the island - as many as 169 species. Most of these birds are vagrants; only 44 species constantly nest on the island, including 8 species of seabirds (gull, guillemot). Several tens of thousands of pairs of white geese, brent geese, different types eiders, waders and other bird species. Bird colonies on steep cliffs sea ​​shores There are tens of thousands of guillemots, kittiwakes, and 3,000 cormorants. The total number of seabird colonies on the island is estimated at 250-300 thousand nesting individuals. Huge bird world! In some years, species of birds uncharacteristic for the Arctic also nest on the island: ruffed hawk, mottled puffin, puffin puffin, warbler, etc.

The world of mammals on the island is quite poor: lemming, arctic fox, ermine, wolverine, wild reindeer, wolves, red foxes. But the island and the entire reserve are, of course, especially famous because of the polar bears - the real owners of these places. This part of the Arctic has become famous as the world's largest concentration of polar bear maternity dens. In some years, 300 to 500 bears make dens in the reserve! In the spring, emaciated mother bears with still fragile cubs emerge from their dens and disperse across the expanses of the Arctic in search of food.

Today on the island there are up to 9-10 thousand wild reindeer, brought here back in the late 40s - early 50s of the twentieth century. In 1975, 20 musk oxen were brought to Wrangel Island from American island Nunivak. They gradually took root on Wrangel Island, and today their population already numbers more than 1,000 individuals. It is interesting that both of these animal species lived on the island in the late Pleistocene, and reindeer and later - only 2-3 thousand years ago.

Wrangel Island is also famous for the largest rookeries of Pacific walruses in the Arctic. These interesting animals, like polar bears, have chosen the reserve’s waters for summer feeding. In the summer-autumn period, female walruses with their cubs accumulate near the islands. They usually stay at the edge of the ice, and after their disappearance they approach the islands and form on the spits the largest coastal rookeries in the Chukchi Sea, where up to 70-80 thousand walruses can be simultaneously located, and taking into account animals swimming in the water - up to 130,000 individuals. Walruses migrate to the Bering Sea for the winter.

The food for polar bears throughout the year is the ringed seal, which lives in the coastal waters of Wrangel Island. In the summer-autumn period, the water area of ​​the reserve becomes a feeding and migration area for cetaceans, of which the most numerous is the gray whale. Its population off the coast of Wrangel Island is increasing every year. Along the coast of the island in the fall, large herds of beluga whales migrate, heading to give birth in the Mackenzie River delta in North America.

ON WRANGEL ISLAND, AN EMPLOYEE OF THE RESERVE, OUR COMPATIOT, SERGEY VARTANYAN in the mid-90s. XX century found the remains of woolly mammoths, whose age was determined to be 7-3.5 thousand years. However, according to the opinion of scientists in those years, mammoths went extinct everywhere 10-12 thousand years ago. The discovery of Sergei Vartanyan raised many questions. But then it turned out that the found remains belonged to a special small subspecies of mammoth that inhabited Wrangel Island back in its heyday Egyptian civilization. Sites of ancient humans have also been found on the island.

Today the island attracts many scientists with its flora and fauna, archaeological finds, migrations of marine animals. In recent years, Wrangel Island has increasingly become visited by tourists who travel around it on all-terrain vehicles. At the same time, the island has a huge strategic importance for countries bordering the Arctic Circle. Some US politicians still dispute Russia's right to rule northern islands. However, Wrangel Island is for Russia part of a single chain of defense of the country’s northern borders, which is especially evident in recent years in connection with the return of the military to the Arctic islands.

(for students in grades 8 - 9) is carried out to control knowledge on this topic, as well as to prepare for. The quiz contains answers that the student can use to self-test their knowledge.

1 .What is called the Arctic?

(the zero degree isotherm is the boundary of the Arctic)

4.What is the area of ​​the Arctic?

(the area of ​​the entire Arctic is 21 million sq. km.)

5.What is the area of ​​the Russian Arctic?

(Byrranga Mountains on the Taimyr Peninsula, height 1146 meters)

8.Name the most high point Arctic in .

18.What is the volume of the Arctic?

(approaching 9000 cubic km)

19.What is the thickness of the Arctic ice?

(up to 5 meters in winter)

20.What is the area of ​​the entire Arctic glaciation?

(32508 sq. km.)

21.What is the area of ​​the Arctic in Russia?

(8000 sq. km.)

22. What rivers are located in the Arctic?

(Eric Rowdy)

27.Who and when first reached the Spitsbergen islands?

(Nansen on Fram)

28. By whom and when was the passage between and opened?

(G.Ya. Sedov, “Saint Phocas”, 1912 - 1914)

30.Who was the first to visit the North Pole?

(Piry, 1908 - 1909)

31.List the names of Russian ships that traveled around the Arctic.

(“St. Foka”, “Sibiryakov”, “Chelyuskin”, “Georgy Sedov”)

32.Which expedition, when, under whose leadership paved the sea route?

(1932, icebreaker “Sibiryakov”, O.Yu. Schmidt)

33.When the first Arctic expedition was organized, who was its leader?

(1937, North Pole 1, D.I. Papanin)

34. How many Russian scientific stations operate in the Arctic?

(in 2005 there were 34 stations))

35. Which states are located in the Arctic?

36.What is the most important sea route in the Arctic?

(Northern Sea Route)

38.Name the most important legal document on the Arctic.

(Declaration on the Protection of the Arctic)

39.What does the word Arctic mean?

(Arktos means bear. The Arctic is the territory lying under the constellation Ursa)

40.Which Arctic island is called the cradle of polar bears?

Located between and