Nature in Danger – 4: Polar Bears
- POSTED ON: 22 Sep, 2017
- TOTAL VIEWS: 1156 Views
- POSTED BY: Chari Vijayaraghavan
- ARTICLE POINTS: 100 Points
Constantine John Phipps was the first to describe the polar bear as a distinct species in 1774. He chose the scientific name Ursus maritimus, the Latin for ‘maritime bear’, due to the animal’s native habitat.
The Inuit refer to the animal as nanook (transliterated as nanuq in the Inupiat language). The Yupik also refer to the bear as nanuuk in Siberian Yupik. The bear is umka in the Chukchi language. In Quebec, the polar bear is referred to as ours blanc (‘white bear’) or ours polaire (‘polar bear’). In the Norwegian-administered Svalbard archipelago, the polar bear is referred to as Isbjørn (‘ice bear’). Scroll through the slides to know a little more about this interesting species…