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Did you know... that the polar bear is well adapted to life in the Arctic Circle, the most inhospitable region of this planet? Polar bears have an incredible sense of smell. They pick up scents from miles off, while we humans have difficulty smelling things only a foot away. It happens that the air in the arctic is so pristine - so pure - that odors will "keep" as they travel long distances on the wind currents. And a bear with such highly specialized sensitivity can easily pinpoint the origin of the smell. In the dark of winter, when there aren't many hours - or even minutes - of daylight, the polar bear has a layer of fat that insulates it from the extreme cold of the arctic. Its feet are padded with hair, as is the black skin on its nose. The hairs are hollow, which insulates it even further. And on those winter days when there is some sunlight, the hollow hairs act like a fiber optic device to carry the warming rays of sunlight down to the bear's black skin, where it can be absorbed as radiant heat, actually warming the skin.

Did you know... that the polar bear is a marine mammal. It's very pelagic - that's a fancy word that means "ocean-dwelling." They've been observed in open water more than 100 miles from land!

In summer, when there's no ice, the bears come off the water and go onto the land surface around Churchill, Canada. They become very inactive in summer. With so much insulation, the polar bear wouldn't be able to survive if it didn't have some way of handling warm weather, too. The white color of the hair helps by reflecting sunlight so the bears don't overheat.

Did you know... that polar bears den on the mainland and raise their young in the extreme cold temperatures of winter? You find them around Resolute, way up in the Canadian arctic. In early spring, the mother bear comes out of the den and starts leading the cubs around, looking for food. Those little cubs are amazing. They can trek long distances with the mother, right from the very beginning. They also know to stay close to shore. They don't get out onto the far reaches of the ice pack, where the big males are found. Those big males will kill the cubs if they find them. Male polar bears do not hibernate. They're out looking for food all the time. And they're very solitary.

Did you know... that the polar bear is one of the few animals in the world that will attack humans, kill them and eat them - even when unprovoked? Anything that's alive on the arctic ice pack is fair game for the polar bear.