Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 10/07/2009 - 10:38

How many reasons are there for the death of polar bears? How does a polar bear cub survive in the wild? What would happen if polar bears were to die out? What is the main reason for polar bears to die? Amanda Wesche

Cristina Galvan

Hi Amanda,Once a polar bear reaches adulthood, they have a very high survival rate -
about 98%. Some of the reasons that polar bears die is old age,
starvation, drowning or fights with other bears. Also, polar bears are
sometime killed by humans in self defense when they get too close to
villages.
Other species in the Arctic depend on polar bears for their survival. For
example, Arctic foxes usually eat the left over seal meat from a polar
bear hunt. Also, polar bears eat seals - if they didn't have a predator
then the population of seals might increase, which could affect the fish
that the seals eat.
I look forward to more questions Amanda!
-Ms Galvan