I’ve read other books with polar bears, so didn’t expect to find a ton of new material in this for me, but either I forgot a lot of things or this had different details, presented differently, a lot of it was so interesting and explained well. All things polar bear. How they live on the ice, and how crucial it is to their survival. How careful the balance is between consuming and using energy, and maintaining their ideal body temperature. How carefully the mother bears select their den sites, why there are no polar bears in the Antarctic, their impressive powers as hunters (and they’re so smart!) leading mostly solitary lives yet they come together in groups to feast on whale carcasses, or to wait for ice to form in the fall. The book is a mix of chapters on bear physiology, history with mankind (including some fascinating legends from northern peoples) and direct observations by the author, who lived in Alaska for many years and also travelled to Churchill to see polar bears there. The last part got a bit dull as it was mostly facts about how polar bear hunting for trophies was finally stopped, and measures started to be taken to protect their environment. As the book is already dated now, threats of global warming are only touched on, though the seriousness of it was soundly recognized. I’m always prompted after reading something more than ten years old like this, to look up how things have continued or changed, following some of the author’s predictions. In this case, I was struck by a statement at the end of the book that in fifty years’ time (so around 2060), female polar bears might no longer be able to travel to and from their denning sites- two of the largest areas in use being Svalbard Archipelago and Wrangel Island. Well, here we are ten years later and so far the bears are still using those areas to raise their cubs. But they are having to go longer and longer without food to do so.
Really good book, but now I want to read the one by Ian Stirling! Which is quoted from in here numerous times.
Borrowed from the public library.