Three More Crazy Facts About The Polar Bear
So you read the first part of this two part series which described three crazy little known facts about the polar bear. If you are hankering for more information about the wonderful polar bear before you adopt one, here are three more crazy facts about the polar bear.
Polar Bears Are Turning To Cannibalism
Polar bears are not particular about what they eat, however if you give them the choice between a seal and any other type of food, they are always going to choose the seal. That being said climate change is inexorably changing what is available in the Arctic. As the sea ice melts polar bears are being driven away from their traditional hunting grounds and it is becoming increasingly harder to catch seals. As a result polar bears are turning to other food sources, and whilst in general they have begun eating birds and their eggs, clearly that is not enough to sustain this huge animal. The melting sea ice has had a disturbing consequence and resulted in polar bear cannibalism.
Bear’s eating each other is not new, there have always been a few furry serial killers prowling the Arctic ice and if a polar bear cub is sick it may be eaten by its mother. However many experts on the polar bear have noticed an increase in cannibalism in recent years, particularly amongst those bears that are trapped on dry land. As global warming continues to melt the ice many more bears may be forced to eat one another.
Polar Bears Are Invisible To Infrared Cameras
Not content with being a great hunters, polar bears are also invisible to infrared cameras. This discovery was made when scientists flew over the Arctic as they sought to survey the bear population and found it difficult to spot the bears who were blending with their surroundings. As a result they turned to the infrared cameras and found they could not see any bears at all. The only parts of the bear that were visible were its nose, eye’s and breath. The reason polar bears seem invisible is its hair has the same raidiative properties as snow which makes them seem invisible under infrared light.
Polar Bear Liver Can Kill You
The Inuit people hunt and eat every part of the polar bear with one notable exception, they avoid the liver. This is because eating polar bear liver can kill you. The liver is dangerous because it is filled with Vitamin A. In small doses this Vitamin is health and helps a number of bodily functions, however this is one case where there can be too much of a good thing. If you consume too much Vitamin A the body begins to shut down. A human adult has the ability to process 10,000 international units of Vitamin A. If you consume 500 grams of polar bear liver you would be ingesting 9 million units of Vitamin A which would cause your hair to fall out, skin to peel away and liver and spleen to swell. If you get offered polar bear liver at a meal, it may be best to decline.