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AnimalsTranscript
00:01The great white bear, 1,500 pounds of predator at home on the ice and under it.
00:10This is a world that bears were born to dominate.
00:14Almost no living creature is safe from their determination and skill as hunters.
00:21Yet even for top predators, nothing comes easy.
00:26A mother's fierce devotion may protect them while they are young.
00:33But only time will tell if this tiny cub will survive to take its place as ruler in the kingdom
00:40of ice.
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01:56Traveling far north, Marco Polo once wrote of a fearsome frozen land inhabited by strange creatures,
02:04such as bears of a white color and of prodigious size.
02:09He had encountered a polar bear.
02:15There are few places on Earth as bleak, cold and hostile to life as these Arctic snow fields.
02:22But for the polar bear, this is paradise.
02:42This vast, empty place is surprisingly rich with a variety of wildlife.
03:09It's a remote world dominated by the largest land carnivore of all.
03:19The polar bear wanders across a world locked in ice and cloaked in eternal night.
03:28The polar bear wanders across a world of all,
03:29and the world was only one of the largest characters.
03:34The polar bear wanders across a world of all.
03:56After darkness, light reclaims the high arctic, revealing a world frozen and still.
04:07The arctic is an ocean sealed by ice and bordered by land, but this is not a world of permanent
04:14winter and each season brings great changes to which polar bears must adapt.
04:22High on the slopes of the arctic mountains, this icy world awakens.
04:44It's April and this bear has been under the snow in her den all winter, but she is not
04:56alone.
05:09Born in December and now about four months old, her cubs are ready to face the outside world.
05:20Their woolly fur helps to insulate them from the bitter cold.
05:24The temperature here often drops to a frigid minus 35.
05:42Throughout the winter, other bears have remained out on the frozen sea ice hunting, but winter
05:47can be a long, lean time for them as seals are often hard to find.
05:54In peak condition, a male bear can weigh as much as ten men, but this bear has just endured
06:01a winter and its body weight is now very low.
06:06Ringed seals, the smallest of the arctic seals, are their favorite prey.
06:12But adult seals are experienced and very wary.
06:15At the slightest sign of danger, they disappear into a safer world.
06:34More at home in the water than on the ice, they have access to several well-spaced breathing
06:39holes that help them to easily outmaneuver a hunting bear.
07:03But what bears are really after in spring are this year's seal pups.
07:07Having never encountered a polar bear before, they seem unaware of the danger.
07:12letting them go with fear of just a dusty boy.
07:19And how far better they need to continue to eat.
07:30Still in them not too much, I'd be mind gonna eat among other ships for the Caribbean.
07:30That'll be important.
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07:36Voilà植 a shock in the sea.
07:36How does that also make sure we catch Thebringen?
08:09This bear hasn't got the hang of it yet.
08:19Even more hungry bears will soon appear in the surrounding hills as emerging families
08:24prepare for life on the sea ice.
08:32Having been confined to their den since birth, it's important for cubs to exercise and gain
08:38strength, for once they leave the safety of their den, they will find little relief from
08:44the trials of life ahead of them.
09:16And her body weight has dropped by half.
09:19Unfortunately she still has a difficult time ahead because she can't go down to the sea
09:24ice to hunt until her cubs are stronger and better coordinated.
09:34The sea ice to hunt for the sea ice to hunt for the sea ice to hunt for the sea
09:58ice to
09:59It takes time for the cubs to acclimate to the Arctic temperatures outside their den,
10:04and although they have thick fur, they have little insulation from fat at this age and
10:10depend on the richness and energy of their mother's milk to keep them warm.
10:40Females without cubs have spent the winter out on the sea ice.
10:44Free from the responsibilities of maternal care, they have other issues to contend with,
10:51males.
10:57Competition for females is high.
10:59This large, scarred male will try to keep the small female away from his rivals by herding
11:05her into remote areas.
11:07That way he gets exclusive access to her.
11:10The scars on his head and neck are evidence of fights with former rivals.
11:32When, at last, the young cubs are strong enough and she is driven by her desperate need for
11:38food, this mother leads her cubs away from the den for the last time.
11:52They are about to enter a much more dangerous world down on the sea ice.
12:00Because ice conditions vary from year to year, seal distribution is unpredictable, so bears may have
12:07to range over thousands of miles in search of the best hunting grounds.
12:17They hunt along pressure ridges, which form when ice sheets collide with each other.
12:23It is under the snow drifts in the shelter of these ridges that ringed seals give birth to their pups.
12:29There may be a number of chambers to the lair, but there is usually only one access to the sea
12:34beneath.
12:35Under the snow, the pup is protected from bad weather and is out of sight.
12:47But bears have an astonishingly acute sense of smell and can detect the presence
12:52of a seal deep within the snow at a distance of a mile or more.
13:02Even so, the bear must pinpoint the exact position of the seal beneath him.
13:11And the slightest crunch of snow could give him away.
14:01Cause above all in sea, over the sea of snowistem.
14:02But the first time he spent looking at the sea, I'm not米ed.
14:03After the white Hui all disappeared, I was not aware of his sailing just before the museum.
14:05But if he had wszystk as manyças to his descent, he was being терри HUD was on the sea
14:06of power and being tenha кадет.
14:06It's a peak in its 이쪽 of debt and an bridge.
14:08we need to put into the sea hat on the stream such asaras with her head.
14:27This time the seal got away.
14:29Only about one in twenty hunts are successful, so the odds seem to be in the seal's favor.
14:35But with so many hungry bears prowling the ice, a pup's future is far from secure.
14:47Hunting requires skill and patience.
14:50It's hard enough for a lone bear, but a female encumbered by cubs will be even less successful.
14:58If she doesn't manage to catch enough seals, she stops producing milk, and her cubs will
15:04soon starve.
15:13So far this family is doing well.
15:15The mother has found enough food to keep both cubs alive.
15:22But getting enough food is not the only problem facing a female with dependent cubs.
15:42Given the chance a large male might kill the cubs, their mother would then become sexually
15:47receptive again, and he could mate with her to start a new generation.
16:04She is very protective, and the cubs are never allowed to stray far from her.
16:14At three times her weight, a fifteen hundred pound male is a fearsome opponent, and she avoids
16:21any chance of an encounter.
16:28Svalbard, a group of islands midway between Norway and the North Pole.
16:33In April, bears converge in this prime seal habitat where they can be sure of finding unwary
16:39seal pups.
16:51These cubs are a year and a half old, and now rely largely on meat.
16:56Their increasing size puts more and more pressure on their mother to provide enough food for the
17:01three of them.
17:11Bears tend to wolf down a fresh kill because it's very likely to be stolen from them by
17:15larger bears, even their own mother.
17:47Cubs have a great deal with the cubs.
17:48It's a great deal to learn before they can survive alone in the Arctic.
17:52If there is sufficient food, a mother will stay with her cubs for two and a half years.
18:11Like most animals, adult polar bears do not waste hard earned energy.
18:16But for the cubs, play continues to be a vital part of their training.
18:32It's only by continuing to be inquisitive that they learn how to adapt to new situations.
18:41But they still don't have the skills to hunt successfully for themselves, and this keeps them totally dependent
18:48on their mother.
19:06They start to imitate her hunting techniques at an early age, but they are simply not heavy
19:12enough to break through the snow into the lair of a seal pup.
19:25of the sea.
19:26of the sea.
19:27of the sea.
19:45Let's go.
20:20Finding food is a major preoccupation for polar bears.
20:33A polar bear can smell a rotting carcass from 10 miles away.
20:53These siblings reluctantly give up their meal to the large male.
21:12There's no sense trying to compete with 1,500 pounds of muscle, might and smarts.
21:43The only other mammal to be found on the sea ice is the Arctic fox.
21:47And in some places its life is intricately bound to that of the polar bear.
22:05Arctic foxes are the jackals of the north.
22:08Although they will hunt seal pups for themselves, they can only kill pups less than a week old.
22:14So scavenging is important and foxes will follow bears far out under the sea ice to feed on the remains
22:21of their kills.
22:22Away from land, foxes are totally dependent on bears for their survival.
22:33gulls also home in on the feast.
22:50Nothing from a polar bear kill is wasted.
23:06Keeping fur in good condition is as crucial for foxes as it is for bears.
23:11Fox fur is very fine and very dense.
23:15And like polar bear fur, each hair is hollow and pulls the sun's rays in toward the skin, keeping the
23:21animal warm.
23:39Such bounty is too good to waste.
23:41This clever fox will hide its prize as insurance against harder times.
23:56No bear is above scavenging from another's kill.
24:00This family has traveled for many miles, drawn by the smell of a dead seal.
24:21Abandoned carcasses are stripped of their valuable energy-rich fat.
24:26All bears eat this first in case an intruder arrives early and steals the kill.
24:31But there is still a lot of meat on the bones.
24:34Invaluable food for younger bears, who are not yet proficient hunters, and for cubs in need of protein.
24:47This seal was killed by a large male bear who once threatened these cubs.
24:53Now he has unwittingly provided them with food and increased their chances of survival.
24:58So...
25:25How did the mortal brew in the car- risk are evitar and by chance to cook,
25:31It's June.
25:33As summer progresses, the Arctic ice begins to loosen its grip and the polar bear's world
25:38is transformed.
25:43Rarely venturing south of the Arctic Circle, these eider ducks nest in colonies on the
25:48ground, laying their eggs near the shore.
26:00This may look leisurely, but for these ducks, it's a race against time as they try to raise
26:06their brood in a short summer season.
26:24Seals begin to have an easier time now that there is more open water for them to retreat
26:29to.
26:29The pups themselves have also become more wary.
26:42The bearded seal is a huge animal.
26:45It prefers to lie on drifting ice floes.
26:49So when the solid ice sheets begin to break up, these seals can be found closer to land.
26:55Weighing as much as a bear and five times as much as a ringed seal, a bearded seal is a
27:02valuable prize if caught.
27:08Bear's learn the essentials of hunting from their mother, but then each develops its own
27:14solution to the problems of survival based on its own unique experiences.
27:23This young bear, now hunting on its own, uses melt channels and the cover offered by ice to sneak
27:31up on its intended victim.
27:59and the young bear, now hunting on its own.
28:31BIRDS CHIRP
28:32Small ice flows conceal its approach as it gets closer.
28:54Once again, the bear goes hungry.
29:00Its first year alone will be the hardest.
29:11With 24 hours of sunlight, the temperature rises,
29:15and the bear's hunting platform quickly disappears.
29:46But for others,
29:48the release of water offers new opportunities.
29:52A developing bloom of plankton
29:53attracts millions of birds to the Arctic.
29:56Here, over the short summer,
29:58they feed and raise their chicks.
30:03For most animals and birds,
30:05summer is a time of plenty.
30:07But bears now enter the most difficult period of their year.
30:11There is little left of the ice,
30:14and so stalking seals is virtually impossible.
30:27They are still, for the most part,
30:29solitary creatures,
30:30and they continue to give each other a wide berth.
30:55Open water is no obstacle to them.
31:19Their remarkable fur is designed not only to keep them warm,
31:23but also to protect them in the water.
31:26Their outer coat of guard hairs stick together when wet,
31:30forming a waterproof barrier.
31:45As ice flows melt away,
31:47bears are forced to head for land.
31:52They can spend many hours in this freezing ocean,
31:55and have been known to swim a hundred miles or more to reach shore.
32:25The polar bear,
32:27as these unique pictures reveal,
32:29lives well up to its Latin name,
32:31which means sea bear.
32:33It is a superbly competent swimmer,
32:36and in fact,
32:37has partially webbed feet for efficient paddling.
33:16for the sea about humanior RHOD ,
33:18has been sun-like air to the sea.
33:19It is a superblyころ which we love about it.
33:19It has been images of the airど of the water underground.
33:19there is a hybrid place whereidel activity seems to go along,
33:21Mensuro fragrant numbers,
33:21where there is a magic tree,
33:21working at an westome to the shoreline.
33:38No wonder it's the only bear to be considered a sea mammal.
34:25No wonder it's the only bear to be considered a sea mammal.
34:56No wonder it's the only bear to be considered a sea mammal.
35:18In more southern areas, the ice disappears altogether, and bears spend the next five months on land.
35:25Here, food is scarce, but they have one adaptation that is the most astounding of all.
35:31They can reduce their metabolism to extremely low levels and save energy while still able to remain active and hunt.
35:40This is how they have been able to cope with their intermittent success at hunting seals on the ice,
35:46and how they will cope with little food in the months to come.
35:59Akpatak, a remote Canadian island whose towering cliffs offer ideal nesting ledges for hundreds of thousands of guillemots.
36:32By nesting on cliffs, these birds gain some protection from likely predators.
36:38Foxes, foxes, and bears, who also use the island as a summer retreat.
36:50The only food accessible to bears are the rotting bird carcasses at the bottom of the cliffs.
37:25There's a difference.
37:44But the sight and smell of fresh food so close is a tempting lure.
38:13Unable to reach the birds, this bear opts for vegetation, which flourishes here because
38:19of the rich guano.
38:24Polar bears are closely related to brown bears and, like them, are able to digest plants.
38:31Such meager meals are probably not about energy intake.
38:35It's more likely that vegetation provides vitamins and minerals absent from their seal
38:40diet.
38:58It's September, and all around the Arctic, the ice has retreated.
39:19Here on Wrangel Island, north of Siberia, walrus can be found hauled out on the beach in late
39:26summer.
39:27But one year in 10, the ice melts so far north that walrus becomes stranded on this sandy spit.
39:44Bears also get left behind by the retreating ice.
39:57A bounty such as this offers relief from hunger.
40:02lei.
40:26And yet, it's yes, all these bells throughout the winter.
40:32Are you feeling about it?
40:44A mature walrus is so big and has such thick skin that a bear is seldom able to take one.
40:50But a young animal is an easier target once separated from the group.
41:19These bears are lucky to have such rich pickings in this otherwise lean period.
41:37Though solitary for most of the year, at this time these bears tolerate company.
41:42The densest population of polar bears lives here on Wrangell Island.
41:46Elsewhere it's extremely rare to see so many bears of all ages and both sexes together.
41:53But with so much more food close at hand there is little to be gained by being aggressive.
42:02Churchill on the shores of Hudson Bay in Canada is home to the most southerly population of polar bears.
42:16Here bears undergo one of the most extreme fasts known for any mammal.
42:21It is now October and apart from seaweed and a few berries, they've hardly eaten at all since the ice
42:29melted away in July.
42:35It's probably not even worth wasting their energy looking for such insignificant meals.
42:53With a fat layer of up to four inches, bears risk overheating at this time as they are better adapted
42:59to keeping warm on the ice.
43:02The best way to conserve their dwindling energy reserves and to keep cool is simply to remain inactive or to
43:11take a dip.
43:17Year after year the same bears appear in Churchill.
43:21So it seems that though bears may wander over vast areas when out on the sea ice,
43:26their navigation is good and they stay within a familiar home range.
43:38Respite from the grueling heat comes with the first storms of winter.
43:42But relief from hunger is still a long way off.
43:47The bears aren't the only ones going hungry.
43:52Desperate for even a small morsel, this arctic fox seems astonishingly bold as it pokes around,
43:59hoping to find a few scraps.
44:04It seems to sense that the bears are saving their energy.
44:13But there is nothing here for any of them.
44:33Still patience only goes so far, and finally the fox is chased off.
44:53Males stay close to shore during the summer and autumn.
44:56And here too in Churchill, even though they are hungry, they are tolerant of each other.
45:01In fact, these bears go beyond tolerance and actually socialize.
45:07And why not?
45:09And this time there is nothing to compete over.
45:11No food and no females.
45:17When it's cooler and overheating is no longer a risk,
45:21male bears sometimes engage in play fighting.
45:44Females and cubs have spent the summer further inland, avoiding the danger of hungry males.
45:49Now, with the approach of winter, they move back to the coast in anticipation of the sea freezing over.
45:56But they still remain cautious and are wary of other bears.
46:22They still remain silent.
46:23Play fighting between males is harmless.
46:25It's one way to establish who is who in the pecking order and to assess your future opponents.
46:31Come spring, when competition for females is high, the fights are for real and are extremely aggressive.
46:38It's better to find out in rehearsal that you don't have a chance of beating a particular rival
46:43than to suffer serious injury later on.
47:02It's now early November, and the long-awaited freeze-up is slowly happening.
47:08But until the ice can support the bears, they continue to bide their time on land.
47:13Incredible to burn you, I'm having trouble Kong, T Ohosofen.
47:42Jones won't waste waste in a month. Well
47:42and mr. Filth,
48:19By mid-November, days are short and the sea ice is now strong enough to support the bears.
48:38High in the mountains, pregnant females dig shallow dens and wait for the snow to cover
48:46them.
48:47Up here, they are safe from other bears who would kill them to satisfy their own hunger.
49:05All other bears walk out onto the newly frozen sea.
49:08Having lost up to a third of their body weight and weakened by their long fast, they begin
49:14their search for ringed seals once more.
49:55The northern lights shimmer in the winter sky.
49:58While below in the mountains, this pregnant female settles down for the next four months
50:04under a deep layer of snow.
50:07Although she mated back in the spring, the fertilized eggs have not implanted until now.
50:38Her cub is born helpless and blind after only six months.
50:4260 days in the womb.
50:45Deep under the protective covering of snow and tucked into its mother's thick fur, the
50:50cub stays warm, despite the appalling conditions of winter outside, where temperatures drop to
50:57below minus 50 degrees.
50:58below minus 50 degrees.
51:02ELIGITAR MUSIC
51:23¶¶
51:39¶¶
51:42It's only by having such tiny and immature cubs
51:46that a female's body can cope with the continuing lack of food.
51:50So unlike most mammals, much of the infant's growth goes on outside
51:56rather than inside the mother's body.
52:16¶¶
52:36¶¶
52:57In a few months, the cub will emerge to face an unfamiliar world outside.
53:02¶¶
53:04In time, it will learn the skills necessary to survive in this harsh land
53:08and take its place among the great white bears as ruler of this icy kingdom.
53:25¶¶
53:26To learn more about what you've seen on this nature program,
53:30visit PBS Online at www.pbs.org.
53:38Next time on Nature, think water, think shark.
53:45But there's more to these feared beasts in the great white.
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55:17Coming up at WHYY Community Connection, followed by Ian Holm,
55:21starring as Shakespeare's King Lear on Masterpiece Theatre.
55:25And be watching for the next edition of our new series,
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56:02See you soon.