27th February: Polar Bear Day

280 years ago today, the first polar bear arrived in London, from Greenland. Here are 10 things you may not know about polar bears:

1. The Latin name for a polar bear is Ursus maritimus, which means "sea bear". Constantine John Phipps, who was the first to describe the polar bear as a distinct species in 1774, gave them that name because they are strong swimmers.
2. The males are called boars and the females are called sows. The collective noun for a group of polar bears is an Aurora.
3. The skin of a polar bear under its white fur is black. The fur is actually made up of transparent, rather than white, hollow hairs, which reflect light and so appear white.
4. Polar bears are the largest land based predator in the world, and have been known to stand up to 11 feet high on their hind legs. When first born, however, a polar bear cub is about the size of a guinea pig.
5. The bulk of the polar bear's diet is seals. They can smell a Seal up to a kilometre away, even if the seal is buried in Snow. Young bears eat mainly the red meat, which is rich in protein, and mature  bears eat the blubber, which is rich in fat. If they can't find any seals, they will eat other things. They have been known to tuck in to Reindeer, birds, eggs, rodents, Crabs, berries, roots, and kelp. They have been known to eat other polar bears, and even people if they are hungry enough, although a polar bear will only attack humans if it is very hungry or if it is severely provoked. They are very clean animals, and after feeding, will wash themselves in the snow.
6. The only species that preys on the polar bear is humans. They were an important source of food for Inuit peoples, who would make use of virtually every part of the animal. As well as eating the meat, they would make clothing from the fur, fuel from the fat and talismans from the teeth.
7. The only part they could not use was the liver, which is poisonous because of the high concentration of vitamin A. Polar bear livers would be buried or thrown into the sea so that the dogs would not eat them.
8. The Chukchi and Yupik of eastern Siberia had a shamanistic ritual of "thanksgiving" to the polar bears that they killed. They would hold a feast in its honour, with traditional music, and including ceremonially offering the skull of the bear food and a pipe to smoke. When they were satisfied that the bear's spirit was appeased, they would take the skull outside the camp and place it in the ground, facing North.
9. Polar bears' feet are highly adapted to their environment. The feet are very large to spread their weight when walking on thin ice or snow. The size of their feet also helps them to swim. Their paws are covered with small papillae to provide grip on icy surfaces.
10. 1,500 year old cave paintings of polar bears have been found in the Chukchi Peninsula.