LONG LIVE POLAR BEAR MOTHERS-

THEIR SURVIVAL TO SECURE THE NEXT GENERATION

LONG LIVE POLAR BEAR MOTHERS-

THEIR SURVIVAL TO SECURE THE NEXT GENERATION

A successful breeding polar bear mother can have about six to seven 

sets of cubs in her lifetime assuming it takes about two to three years 

to raise a set of twin cubs.  Each set of cubs will have different fathers 

due to the polar bear mothers natural selection of a male for mating.  

She often returns to the same denning area when pregnant and ready 

for hibernation.  If she has three to four cubs then it becomes more challenging to raise them especially with scarce food resources 

such as limited seal populations due to changing climate conditions.

During a polar bear mother's hunt she has the disadvantage of having 

her cubs make noise while she is stalking prey for their next meal.

She may only be successful in her prey capture about two percent 

of her prey capture attempts.  She will need to catch a bigger seal 

to feed herself and her cubs.  Remarkably, she can nurse her cubs 

even during the winter on the sea ice and open water resting ice floe areas.

Another apex predator like a Bengal tiger in India may only capture prey 

in about one in twenty attempts.  Stalking in the hunting process is very time intensive.  The tigress hunts alone without her cubs near her.  

After her nighttime hunting, she will nurse her cubs to keep them quiet.

They are hidden in a cave or ravine for protection from other predators like Indian leopards, pythons and even other male tigers.

The polar bear mother can probably live to about eighteen to twenty-five years of age in the wild if the food sources, limited injuries and a nourishing food environment can sustain her during the raising of her cubs.  Pregnancy depends if the polar bear mother has enough fat reserves to allow the pregnancy to occur.

Incredibly, a polar bear mother gives birth while she is hibernating.

in her warm den surroundings. The cub(s) must find the mother's

enriched breast milk to survive.  As a fast-growing apex predator, 

the polar bear cub will grow from one pound to twenty pounds in one month. Continued warmth in her den is needed while the mother is nursing her cub(s) throughout her hibernation.    If any emergency happens, the polar bear mother can be abruptly awakened from hibernation and ready to fight.

After the long arctic winter, she will leave the den with her cubs 

in March and April in search of food as she has not eaten 

during the entire winter.

The Polar Bear Mother preserves the next generation through her

vigilant protection from predators and constant nurturing of her cubs 

until they are ready to leave her guardianship.