have you ever

been face to face with

a polar bear?

Norbert Rosing has. He's had his tiresslashed by a polar bear, almost becamea polar bear’s lunch when his truckbecame stuck in a snowdrift, and nearlylost his fingertips to frostbite. But hekeeps returning to the beautiful Arcticlandscape and to the company of hisfavorite animal. With lots of layers andspecial camera equipment, and withpatience, skill, and perseverance, NorbertRosing brings you the wild world ofplayful cubs and magnificent predatorsin Face to Face with Polar Bears.

You’ll find answers to questions like . . .

How does a polar bear find atasty seal snack?

Why is a polar bear’s fur whiteand skin black?

What does global warming meanfor polar bears?

Join an expert who can take youinto the polar bear’s own magical frozenworld.

This polar bear close encounter is oneyou won’t want to miss!

Come see animals

face to facethrough in-your-face animal adventures.

face to face with animalsis brought to you exclusively fromNational Geographic photographers andresearchers in the field observinganimals. Each book combines excitingfirsthand animal information withstunning animal photography. Read aboutclose calls, narrow escapes, and the onethat got away. Find out about the field ofanimal study and observation and all thelatest discoveries.

You’ll find important conservationmessages about the need to protectanimals and their threatened habitats.You’ll receive “tips from the expert” withfun and practical nuggets of informationabout working with animals in the field.A “facts at a glance” reference sectionputs information at your fingertips.A scientific adventure experiment, aglossary, and a “find out more” sectionall help you process what you’ve learned.

let national geographictake you out of the zoo,out of the library, andinto the wild!

Jacket design by David M. SeagerJacket copyright © 2007National Geographic SocietyPhotographs by Norbert Rosing

Front cover: Face to face with a polar bear.Front Flap: A polar bear’s expressive eyes.Back cover: A playful polar bear frolics with a tire.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY1145 17th Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20036www.nationalgeographic.com

US $16.95 / $21.95 CAN

face to face with

meet the polar bear.. .

norbert rosing is a nature and wildlife photographer whose coverage has focused

primarily on the Arctic, North American landscapes, and the National Parks of Germany. His images have

been published in magazines all over the world including NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine, Geo, and BBC

Wildlife, and he has published a number of books, most recently The World of the Polar Bear. Says Art

Wolfe, conservation photographer, “Norbert Rosing is the best photographer of the Arctic working today.”

elizabeth carney is a children's writer and editor from New York City.

Cuddly cubs.Powerful predators.

Lords of the Arctic.

by Norbert Rosingwith Elizabeth Carneyby Norbert Rosingwith Elizabeth Carney

Rosing/Carneyfa

ce

to

face

wit

hPOLARBEARS

U.S. $16.95 / $21.95 CAN

I S B N 978-1-4263-0139-1

9 781426 301391

5 1 6 9 5

/ PRINTED IN CHINA

by Norbert Rosingwith Elizabeth Carney

face to face with

by Norbert Rosingwith Elizabeth Carney

W A S H I N G T O N , D . C .

5

one fall, my wife Elli and I had a single goal:to photograph polar bears. We were staying at

a research camp outside “the polar bear capital of theworld”—the town of Churchill in Manitoba, Canada.

Taking pictures of polar bears is amazing but alsodangerous. Polar bears—like all wild animals—shouldbe photographed from a safe distance. When I’mface to face with a polar bear, I like it to be througha camera with a telephoto lens. But sometimes, thatis easier said than done. This was one of those times.

A slumbering giant: Polarbears are one of the largestland carnivores in the world.

I’m all bundledup and ready fora long day of photo-graphing polar bearsin the icy Arctic.

6

As Elli and I cooked dinner, a young male polarbear who was playing in a nearby lake sniffed, andsmelled our spaghetti and garlic bread.

The hungry bear followed his nose to our camp,which was surrounded by a high, wire fence. Heclawed, bit, and shoved the wire mesh. He stood onhis hind legs and pushed at the wooden fence posts.

Terrified, Elli and I tried all the bear defenseactions we knew. We yelled at the bear, banged pots,and fired blank shotgun shells into the air. Sometimesloud noises like these will scare bears off. Not thispolar bear—he just growled and went back to tryingto tear down the fence with his massive paws.

I radioed the camp manager for help. He told mea helicopter was on its way, but it would be 30 min-utes before it arrived. Making the best of this closeencounter, I snapped some pictures of the bear.

Elli and I feared the fence wouldn’t last through30 more minutes of the bear’s punishment. Thecamp manager suggested I use pepper spray. Thespray burns the bears’ eyes, but doesn’t hurt them.

So I crept up to our uninvited guest and, throughthe fence, sprayed him in the face. With an angryroar, the bear ran back to the lake to wash his eyes.

- Polar bears are one of thelargest land predators inthe whole world.

- Paws can be 12 inches (30 cm)across—that's some foot!

- Males may weigh as muchas a small car—over1,700 pounds (770 kg).

- Male bears are as long asnormal room height fromfloor to ceiling.

howbigis this bear?

7

A few minutes later, the helicopter arrived. As wewere lifted into the air, we saw the stubborn bearwas already heading back to our camp.

When Elli and I got home and developed our pic-tures, we noticed this bear had broken an importanttooth. Like humans, polar bears feel pain, haveemotions, and can be afraid. Elli and I learned ourlesson: Beware of a bear with a toothache.

This young male polarbear tries to push down thefence that circles the camp.He was probably extra hun-gry because of a toothache,which made it difficult forhim to chew. He was hopingfor my spaghetti!

9

istarted traveling to the Arctic to photographwildlife 17 years ago. At first, I planned to

photograph things like wildflowers and the northernlights. But my plans changed. I became fascinatedwith polar bears. The first time I looked into theeyes of a polar bear, I felt an important momentof connection. I knew this was the animal I wasdestined to capture on film for all to see. Since then,I have had my truck’s tires slashed by a polar bear.I nearly lost my fingertips to frostbite. And I narrowly

Like a dog after a bath,a polar bear shakes waterfrom its coat after a swim.

A mother polarbear sits with her twocubs in Manitoba,Canada. Polar bearsmost commonly givebirth to twins.

10

escaped becoming a bear’s lunch after my truck gotstuck in a snowdrift. Still, nothing has ruined myfeeling of connection to this amazing animal.

Polar bears might look similar to their cousins,the land-dwelling black bears and brown bears. Butbesides their color, these white bears are differentin one big way. Polar bears are marine mammals.Like seals and walruses, they spend most of theirlives on the ocean. In fact, their scientific name,Ursus maritimus, means “sea bear.”

The icy Arctic Ocean and lands that surround theNorth Pole are a polar bear’s idea of paradise. Thesebears are built to keep warm in freezing temperatures.For much of the year, they spend their days sleepingin snowdrifts and playing, and hunting on sea ice.

Polar bears eat mainly the fat and meat of otheranimals. Seals are their favorite meals. They some-times eat walruses and caribou, too. I’ve watchedpolar bears nab their prey in many different ways.In one common method, the bear stands very still

A bear feasts on one ofits favorite meals, a walrus,in Igloolik, Canada. Polar

bears don’t bury leftovers forlater meals the way otherbears do.

12

over a hole in the ice. Seals swim under thesea ice, but they must come to the surface

to breathe. When a seal pops up for air,the bear grabs it.

After a meal, polar bears wash up.For polar bears, keeping clean is notjust about looking good. A cleancoat keeps bears warmer than adirty one. Why? Polar bear hairlooks white to us because it adopts

the color of the light that hits it.Actually, it is colorless and hollow like a

tube. It draws heat from sunlight to thebear’s black skin below. This special coat also

helps the bears blend into the snowy landscape.Adult bears have perfected the art of keeping

warm. Polar bear cubs need help from their momsto keep from freezing to death.

To prepare for her cubs’ birth, a soon-to-be motherbear digs a den. Dens are usually caves dug into earthor snow. They have long, narrow entrance tunnels tokeep the mother’s warmth from escaping outside.One scientist found a cozy den to be 37 degrees F(20 degrees C) warmer than the outside air.

Polar bears live in theArctic, near the North Pole.They are one of eight speciesof bears in the world. Theonly continents with nonative bears are Australia,Antarctica, and Africa.

Greenland(Denmark)

C A N A D A

ALASKA(U.S.)

R U S S I A

NorwegianSea

GreenlandSea

BarentsSea

KaraSea

LaptevSea

EastSiberian

Sea

ChukchiSea

BeringSea

Sea ofOkhotsk

BeaufortSea

LabradorSea

BaffinBay

HudsonBay

Gulf ofAlaska

ARCTICOCEAN

PACIFICOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

NorthPole

Polar bear range

Polar bear denning sites

Maximum extent of winter pack ice

Country boundary

Rare polar bear sightings

On land On pack ice

13

The mother bear rests in the den for three to fourmonths until cubs are born in the winter. Newbornshave thin hair and no teeth. They are the size of asquirrel and depend on their mother for warmth,food, and shelter. They nurse on her fatty milk. Thenew family stays in the den until early spring, whenthe cubs are strong enough to journey to the sea ice.

This polar bear cub restson top of its mother’s head.Mom doesn’t seem to mind.Cubs stay with their mothersfor up to two and a half years.She teaches them how tosurvive in their frosty world.

15

imagine a place where wide stretches of ice goon for as far as the eye can see. In the winter,

darkness lasts 24 hours a day. In the summer, thesun never sets at all, giving the place the nicknameLand of the Midnight Sun. This is what the polarbears’ home—the Arctic—is like.

The Arctic region lies north of the Arctic Circle—a line about three-fourths of the way up the globefrom the equator. Inside the circle you’ll find theArctic Ocean, with the North Pole in the center

A polar bear shieldshis face from a blindingsnowstorm.

Peek-a-boo! Apolar bear peersover the top of anice floe.

16

Mountain aven growsover rocks at WapuskNational Park. During thesummer, wildflowers bloomand berries provide food forhungry polar bears.

and the northern-most lands of Russia, theUnited States (Alaska), Canada, Norway, andDenmark (Greenland).

Most of the time, a 6- to 8-foot-thick (1.8- to 2.4-meter) layer of ice covers the Arctic Ocean, whichmakes it the only ocean people and animals can walkon. Fish, seals, whales, and walruses swim below.

The Arctic isn’t where you would want to spenda beach vacation. Below-freezing temperatures andstiff winds are the norm. There are few roads, sowhen I’m looking for polar bears, I use helicopters,snowmobiles, or dogsleds to get around.

While the land might seem harsh, it is really fullof life. In the summer, wildflowers bloom in daz-zling colors. You can find beetles, bees, and butter-flies fluttering around. Almost 200 different typesof birds—from puffins to snow geese—spend thewarmer months breeding and nesting here.

What’s the secret to surviving the Arctic’s coldseasons? Keeping warm. For me, it’s not easy. I wearmany layers of clothes, a mask, hood, gloves, andwaterproof boots. My equipment can also break inthe Arctic’s freezing temperatures. Sometimes myfilm gets so cold it shatters like glass in my hands.

- Three layers of socks

- Waterproof boots

- Three layers of pants

- Two turtlenecks

- Five layers of jackets

- Gloves, face mask, and hood

- Parka

howto staywarmin the arctic

A polar bear wanders arocky coast in Canada whilegulls look on. More than 175types of birds migrate to theArctic to breed in the summer.

Polar bears are seriousswimmers—they can swimdistances of more than 100miles. This mother and cubpaddle through the freezingwaters of Wager Bay.

18

19

Polar bears do a much better job of staying warmthan humans. They have a big advantage: a built-insnowsuit. In addition to their special heat-absorbingcoat and skin, bears have a 4-inch (10-centimeter)layer of fat called blubber. The blubber holds in thebears’ body heat and also helps them float in water.

Polar bears have extra-wide paws that work likesnowshoes. The paws spread out the bears’ weightso they can balance on slippery ice and snow.

Polar bears are designed for Arctic survival. Buteven so, life in the Arctic isn’t easy. These smartbears experiment with different ways to hunt, learnto avoid hunters, and perfect their den-making skills.

When two polar bears meet, anything can hap-pen. I’ve been entertained for hours by watchingyoung bears play-fight and wrestle. Older bearsmay fight over food or mates. Their heavilyscarred faces are evidence of many battles.Mother bears protect their cubs at all costs frommale polar bears and wolves.

Even though their lives in the Arctic are full ofchallenges, polar bears wouldn’t be able to surviveanywhere warmer. These bears live up to theirnickname—Lords of the Arctic.

A harp seal pup lies onthe ice. Polar bears mostcommonly eat ringed seals,bearded seals, and harp seals.Polar bears can sniff out aseal hiding under three feet(a meter) of ice from a mile(a kilometer and a half) away!

Young male bears play-fight. The bears are prac-ticing for adulthood, whenfights over females will bereal and the stakes high.

21

fortunately for polar bears, the Arctic is onearea of the world where very few people live.

Polar bears have avoided habitat destruction andoverhunting, human activities that have landedother bears on the endangered species list.

But polar bears have other problems. Becauseof a worldwide warm-up, the Arctic ice is melting.In the past 50 years, average Arctic temperatureshave increased bymore than 5 degrees F (2 degrees C).This may not sound like much, but the heat is

A polar bear wandersover a field of ice after sun-set in Churchill, Manitoba,Canada. Polar bears are soli-tary animals, preferring tohunt, sleep, and roam thesea ice by themselves.

A polar bearstares off into thesunset.

22

Workers from ManitobaConservation—affectionatelyknown as the polar bearpolice—relocate bears whoget too close to people.

enough to melt the sea ice earlier in the summer andcause it to freeze later in the fall. This shortens thebears’ hunting time on the ice. Without enough timeto hunt, eat, and build up fat, the bears may returnto land weak and thin—and in danger of starving.

23

A scientist shows a bear’stattooed upper lip. Scientiststattoo bears, each withits own unique number,so the animals can beidentified later.

Scientists hope to learn how polar bears are copingwith their changing environment. How do you studya 1,700–pound (770–kilogram) bear? Very, very care-fully. Scientists put the bear to sleep by shooting itwith a drug-filled dart. Then they weigh the bear, takeblood samples, and give it a checkup. The scientistsfix numbered white tags to the bear’s ears so it canbe tracked and identified later. They also tattoo thebear’s number to the inside of its upper lip.

In the past few years, researchers tracking polarbears have found dead bears floating in the water 60miles (100 kilometers) off the coast of Alaska. Theice melted so quickly that these bears were strandedin the open ocean. They either died from exhaustionor drowned in rough waves and high winds.

Some Inuit hunters have told me that they havenoticed changes in weather patterns and currents in

- Hover above sealbreathing holes and pouncewhen a seal appears

- Break the ice to get atyoung seals below

- Paddle through watertoward seals resting onice, with only your noseand eyes showing

- Follow your nose tofind a dead whale, walrus,or caribou

- Watch out for melting sea ice

howto hunt

like a polarbear

25

In Wapusk NationalPark, a mother bear and hercubs walk across cracked seaice. Melting sea ice is a bigproblem in the Arctic.

the region. These native Arctic people say that some-times their feet even sink into melting permafrost(soil that’s supposed to remain frozen year-round).

Most scientists believe the recent Arctic meltdownis part of a pattern called global warming. Globalwarming has been linked to the burning of fossilfuels, which power people’s cars, planes, and facto-ries. The burned fuels send gases, including carbondioxide, into the air. When carbon dioxide builds up inthe atmosphere, it can trap heat and warm the planet.

Right now, the world’s some 25,000 polar bearsare not endangered. But this can change. One studyfound that in 100 years, the Arctic will likely become7 to 13 degrees F (4 to 7 degrees C) warmer. If thishappens, the future of the polar bear and its homewill be grim. But it’s not too late to take action (findout how on the next page). It’s my deepest hope thatpolar bears live to capture our imaginations forever.

26

Global warming is the biggestthreat polar bears face. If toomuch Arctic ice melts, theirhabitat will be destroyed. Whenwe burn fuel to make electricityand to heat and cool homes, weadd more carbon to the air.Carbon and gases in the airspeed up global warming.

-You can help to slow thisprocess. Try to use less powerat home. Turn off the lightwhen you leave a room. Turnoff the TV unless you are reallywatching. If your home doesnot leak air, you will use lessheating and cooling power.Ask your parents to check fortight windows, doors, and goodinsulation in the walls toprevent air leaks.

-Some electricity, called“green electricity,” comes fromwind and solar power. Thistype of energy does not addto global warming. Your familymay be able to buy “green”through your local electriccompany. Ask yourparents to find out aboutspecial programs like this.

-Gas engines in vehiclesadd carbon, too. Walk or ride abike to get around, if you cando it safely. Could your familytravel on public buses or trainsfor longer trips, instead ofgoing by car?

-You can also help to pro-tect polar bears by writing toyour senators and representa-tives in Congress. Tell themyou are worried about globalwarming. Ask them to makestrict rules for car manufac-turers and to favor cars withbetter gas mileage, hybridengines, and all-electric cars.Ask them to support cleanenergy development and goodbus and train systems.

-Learn all you can aboutpolar bears and their environ-ment. (See the list of books andWeb sites in Find Out More onpage 30.) Some animal welfaregroups have special programsfor young members. Joining agroup that studies and worksto preserve polar wildlife canbe a big help to all the animals.

Bears can’t sign petitions.They need our help to keeptheir home protected.

howyou canhelp

would you like to see

and photograph polar

bears yourself?

You might find captive bearsin a nearby zoo. How will whatyou know about bears’ habitshelp you get good pictures?Bears do many different thingsduring the day. What would youmost like to see them doing?Swimming? Eating? Playing?When do you think is the besttime to see each of these activi-ties? How do you think captivebear behavior differs from wildbear behavior? How is a bear’szoo environment different fromits natural habitat? You canrecord your thoughts in a jour-nal and then compare themlater against your observations.

1 Imagine you could study wildpolar bears. What behavior inter-ests you the most? What else isthere to learn about polar bears?

2What would you need to takewith you, besides your camera?What else would help you workin comfort in the Arctic? Wouldyou need special clothes? Howlong would you stay? Would youneed shelter? What kind?

3 You have read that polar bearsroam over hundreds of milesduring the year. Where wouldyou go to see them huntingseals? What time of year wouldyou see this?

4 Some wildlife protectiongroups take kids north to seeArctic animals, including polarbears. Maybe you can go onsuch a trip—and take yourcamera along!

Making a snow angel ortaking a bath? A polar bearrolls in the snow to clean itsfur or maybe just to play.

it’s yourturn

-ColorPolar bear skin is black. You cansee the skin at the tip of theirnoses and on the pads of theirfeet. Polar bear coats lookwhite, cream-colored, or yellow-ish, depending on the light, buteach hair is colorless and hollow.

-Special featuresPolar bear bodies are well builtto help them live in the Arctic.Their small ears do not losemuch heat. The soles of theirfeet are mostly covered in fur,to keep them warm walkingover ice. They grow a thicklayer of fat under their skinthat blocks the cold. To helpthem swim, polar bears havewebbed toes on theirforepaws. Polar bears don’thibernate like other bears.

-HabitatPolar bears spend much of theyear on sea ice in the ArcticOcean. A bear may travelacross more than a thousandmiles (over 1,500 kilometers)on the ice each year. They alsoroam coastal areas and islands,including parts of the United

28

-Scientific nameUrsus maritimus

-Common namesPolar bear, ice bear, sea bear

-PopulationBetween 20,000 and 27,000worldwide. The InternationalUnion for Conservation ofNature and Natural Resources(IUCN) lists the polar bear as a“vulnerable” species. Thatmeans that wild polar bearsare at risk of dying out.

-SizePolar bears are the largestspecies of bear (by record).

-LengthMales up to 8'6'' (2.6 m)Females up to 6'11'' (2.1 m)

-WeightMales up to 1,800 lbs. (800 kg)Females up to 660 lbs. (300 kg)

-LifespanWild bears live 15-18 years.Zoo bears may live longer.The oldest captive polar bearknown lived to be more than40 years old.

A cub chews on a twig.Polar bear cubs are playfuland curious. They can turnalmost any object into a toy.

factsat aglance

29

States, Canada, Russia, Norway,and Greenland. A bear that livesin one place may roam over 200square miles (500 square kilo-meters) of personal territory.

-FoodRinged seals are the main foodpolar bears hunt year-round.They also eat bearded seals,walruses, and beached whales.The blubber (fat layer) is thepart of their prey they likebest. Near towns and at humancampsites, bears look throughgarbage dumps for food. Likeother bear species, hungrypolar bears will eat almost any-thing they can find.

-ReproductionBears mate in the spring.Males and females do not stay

together. The females find ordig a den in the earth or indeep, hardened ice. From oneto three cubs are born therethe following winter. Motherbears give birth and raise thecubs alone. Cubs stay withtheir mother until they areabout 21⁄2 years old.

-Social habitsAdult polar bears usually livealone. At mating time, two orthree male bears may followone female. Mothers travelwith cubs until the cubs arealmost as big as adults. Cubsfrom the same litter may livetogether awhile after they leavetheir mother. Several bears mayshare the meat when a whalecarcass washes up on shore.Bears living near Hudson Bay in

Pregnant females stay intheir den from mid-Octoberto as late as mid-April.During that time, mothersgive birth to cubs and nursethem until they’re bigenough to survive the harshweather outside the den.

Canada are often seen ingroups as they look for foodscraps left by humans.

-Biggest threatsThe worst threat to polarbears is loss of habitat throughglobal warming and Arcticdevelopment. Bears cannot getenough food when their huntingareas of sea ice grow smaller.Chemical pollution on Arcticlands and in the water poisonsbears. Chemicals get into mostArctic animals, includinganimals that polar bears eat.Polar bears in polluted areasare smaller and weaker.Fewer cubs are born wherepollution is high.

30

glossary

Carnivore: an animal whose dietis based on meat.Environment: the natural sur-roundings, including terrain,climate, and other native livingthings, of a plant or animal.Fossil fuel: coal, oil, and naturalgas. These fuels come from theslow breakdown of ancientplants or animal bodies overmillions of years.Global warming: a gradual rise inaverage temperatures worldwide.Habitat: the place where a plantor an animal naturally lives.

Inuit: native peoples in theArctic areas of Alaska, Siberia,Canada, and Greenland.Marine: living in or near the seaor ocean, or depending on theocean’s food sources.Norm: a usual state or condition.North Pole: a point at the north-ern end of the Earth’s axis,located in the Arctic Ocean.There, six months of daylightare followed by six months ofdarkness each year.Permafrost: ground, soil, or rockthat stays at a temperature of

32 degrees Fahrenheit (0˚C) orbelow for two years or more.Species: a group of animals orplants that look similar, breedwith each other, and whose off-spring can also breed successfully.Telephoto lens: a camera lens thatcan act like a telescope, makingdistant objects appear close.Tundra buggy: a special-purposevehicle like a bus, used for observ-ing Arctic wildlife safely. Buggiesride high on big tires over iceand snow instead of roads.

find out moreBooks & ArticlesBiel, Timothy Levi. Zoobooks 2.Polar Bears. Poway, CA: WildlifeEducation, 1985.

Mangelson, Thomas D., andBruemmer, Fred. Polar Dance:Born of the North Wind. Omaha,NE: Images of Nature, 1997.

National Audubon Society. Guide toMarine Mammals of the World.New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2002.

Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw. PolarBears. Minneapolis: CarolrhodaBooks, 2000.

Rosing, Norbert. The World of thePolar Bear. Richmond Hill, Ontario:Firefly Books, 2006.

Stirling, Ian. Polar Bears. AnnArbor: University of Michigan Press,1988.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine arti-cles from December 2000, February2004, and October 2004.

Web siteshttp://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/creature_feature/0004/polar.html

http://www.animalinfo.org/species/carnivor/ursumari.htm

http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/arctic/polar_bear/index.cfm

http://www.rosing.de

http://www.tundrabuggy.com

http://www.polarbearsinternational.org

http://seaworld.org/infobooks/polarbears/home.html

Places to visitPolar Bears International has Arcticcamps for kids to learn about polarbears and visit their habitat.For information, see: www.polarbearsinternational.org/adventure-learning-program/

31

index

What makes a successful wildlife photogra-pher? Some people say the photo equipment.Others say good luck or knowledge of your sub-ject. All are right. But I learned that in the vastArctic wilderness where the polar bear lives,the key to success is a responsible Inuit guide.

I remember arriving on a remote island inthe northern Hudson Bay. My guide, LukeEetuk, came over and introduced himself. Hesaid: “Don’t worry about anything but yourphotography. I will guide you. I will cook. I willset up the tent. Your job is to create photo-graphs. Your images will tell the people outsidethe Arctic what our home is all about.”

For more than three weeks, Luke kept hisword. I never was hungry, cold, or afraid. Thisis important because a tired body with ahungry stomach doesn’t do a good job. Beingrelaxed, even in difficult situations, is veryimportant for a photographer. Under theseideal circumstances, I feel free to move around,look for different angles, wait for low light, andchange lenses as often as I need to.

I photograph with 35mm professionalcameras, and I prefer film. My lenses rangefrom 16mm fish-eye lenses to 800mm tele-photo lenses. To hold the camera steady, Iuse tripods of varying sizes and, during aerialphotography, I use gyrostabilizers.

In the field, there are some challengesthat no one can protect you from. In thesummer, scores of mosquitoes, black flies,and horse flies, and the inability to take ashower can make life very uncomfortable.In the winter, we grapple with extremely coldtemperatures, brisk winds, and 18 hours aday of total darkness.

Why am I doing all this? For the one-of-a-kind experiences! I see animal families actinglike us: playing, fighting, having fun, and takingcare of each other. I see weather conditions notmany people have seen and the aurora borealislighting up the Arctic during a winter night.Being outdoors is a learning experience.The most important lesson: learning to respectthe lives of other creatures.

--norbert rosing

research &photographicnotes

Boldface indicates illustrations.

arctic regionsbirds 17description 15–16warming 21–22, 25, 29

birdsmigration 17

Blubber 19churchill, Manitoba, Canada

polar bear on ice 20polar bear photography 5–6polar bear watching 27

Cleanliness 12, 27Cold weather

keeping warm 16, 19, 28Color 12, 28Cubs

behavior 13crossing sea ice 24–25early life 9, 13, 13, 29swimming 17

dens 12–13, 29Diet 10, 16, 19, 29facts at a glance 28–29Feeding behavior 6, 77,, 10, 10–11,

12, 23, 29Fighting 18, 19Fur 12, 28global warming 25, 26habitat 10, 15–16

changes 21–22Harp seal pup 19How you can help 26Hunting 10, 12, 23ice

melting 21–22, 25, 29polar bears on 15, 20, 24–25

Igloolik, Northwest Territories,Canada

polar bear eating a walrus10–11

Inuit 23, 25lifespan 28manitoba, Canada

cubs with mother 9Manitoba Conservation

relocating bears 21Mountain aven (flower) 16pain 7Paws 6, 19Play behavior 18, 27Pollution 29Population 28range 28–29

map 12Relocation 21Reproduction 9, 12–13, 29Rosing, Norbert 5scientific research 23Size 6, 28Sleeping 4Smell, sense of 7, 19Snowstorms 14Social behavior 29Swimming 8, 17tattoos 23Threats 22, 26, 29wager Bay, Northwest Territories,

Canadapolar bears swimming 17

Wapusk National Park, Manitoba,Canada

mother and cubs 24–25wildflowers 16

Wildflowers 16

32

Published by theNational Geographic Society

John M. Fahey, Jr., President andChief Executive Officer

Gilbert M. Grosvenor, Chairman ofthe Board

Nina D. Hoffman, Executive VicePresident, President, BookPublishing Group

Staff for This Book

Nancy Laties Feresten, Vice President,Editor-in-Chief of Children’s Books

Bea Jackson, Design and IllustrationsDirector, Children’s Books

Jennifer Emmett, Project Editor

David M. Seager, Art Director

Lori Epstein, Illustrations Editor

Jocelyn G. Lindsay, Researcher

Jean Cantu, Illustrations Specialist

Carl Mehler, Director of Maps

Rebecca Baines, Editorial Assistant

R. Gary Colbert, Production Director

Lewis R. Bassford, Production Manager

Vincent P. Ryan, Maryclare Tracy,Nicole Elliott

Manufacturing Managers

Cover: Playful and powerful, polar bears havesurprisingly expressive faces. Back Cover: Apolar bear romps with a new toy. Page One: Apolar bear cub follows his mother. Title Page:Face to face with a polar bear.

Library of CongressCataloging-in-Publication Data

Rosing, Norbert.Face to face with polar bears / by Norbert

Rosing with Elizabeth Carney.p. cm. -- (Face to face)

Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 978-1-4263-0139-1 (trade : alk. paper)

-- ISBN 978-1-4263-0140-7 (library : alk. paper)1. Polar bear. I. Carney, Elizabeth, 1981- II.Title.QL737.C27R69 2007599.786--dc22

2006032847

Printed in China

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to the inuit people ofthe north and furthergenerations. -nrfor my brother and sister,marty and mary. --ec

Acknowledgments:I could not have shot these imageswithout the help of my Inuit friends inNunavut, Canada; Inuit guides PakakQamaniq and Adam Qanatsiaq; Cree guidesMorris and Mike Spence; the people ofChurchill, Manitoba, Canada; and the polarbear researchers Nick Lunn and IanStirling. Special thanks to my wife Elli forletting me go when I needed to and toRobert Buchanan of Polar BearsInternational for his friendship and support.

The publisher gratefully acknowledgesthe assistance of Christine Kiel, K-3Curriculum and Reading Consultant.

Text and photographs copyright© 2007 Norbert RosingAll rights reserved. Reproduction of thewhole or any part of the contents with-out written permission from the NationalGeographic Society is strictly prohibited.

Book design by David M. SeagerThe body text of the book is set inITC Century. The display text is setin Knockout and Party Noid.

have you ever

been face to face with

a polar bear?

Norbert Rosing has. He's had his tiresslashed by a polar bear, almost becamea polar bear’s lunch when his truckbecame stuck in a snowdrift, and nearlylost his fingertips to frostbite. But hekeeps returning to the beautiful Arcticlandscape and to the company of hisfavorite animal. With lots of layers andspecial camera equipment, and withpatience, skill, and perseverance, NorbertRosing brings you the wild world ofplayful cubs and magnificent predatorsin Face to Face with Polar Bears.

You’ll find answers to questions like . . .

How does a polar bear find atasty seal snack?

Why is a polar bear’s fur whiteand skin black?

What does global warming meanfor polar bears?

Join an expert who can take youinto the polar bear’s own magical frozenworld.

This polar bear close encounter is oneyou won’t want to miss!

Come see animals

face to facethrough in-your-face animal adventures.

face to face with animalsis brought to you exclusively fromNational Geographic photographers andresearchers in the field observinganimals. Each book combines excitingfirsthand animal information withstunning animal photography. Read aboutclose calls, narrow escapes, and the onethat got away. Find out about the field ofanimal study and observation and all thelatest discoveries.

You’ll find important conservationmessages about the need to protectanimals and their threatened habitats.You’ll receive “tips from the expert” withfun and practical nuggets of informationabout working with animals in the field.A “facts at a glance” reference sectionputs information at your fingertips.A scientific adventure experiment, aglossary, and a “find out more” sectionall help you process what you’ve learned.

let national geographictake you out of the zoo,out of the library, andinto the wild!

Jacket design by David M. SeagerJacket copyright © 2007National Geographic SocietyPhotographs by Norbert Rosing

Front cover: Face to face with a polar bear.Front Flap: A polar bear’s expressive eyes.Back cover: A playful polar bear frolics with a tire.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY1145 17th Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20036www.nationalgeographic.com

US $16.95 / $21.95 CAN

face to face with

meet the polar bear.. .

norbert rosing is a nature and wildlife photographer whose coverage has focused

primarily on the Arctic, North American landscapes, and the National Parks of Germany. His images have

been published in magazines all over the world including NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine, Geo, and BBC

Wildlife, and he has published a number of books, most recently The World of the Polar Bear. Says Art

Wolfe, conservation photographer, “Norbert Rosing is the best photographer of the Arctic working today.”

elizabeth carney is a children's writer and editor from New York City.

Cuddly cubs.Powerful predators.

Lords of the Arctic.

by Norbert Rosingwith Elizabeth Carneyby Norbert Rosingwith Elizabeth Carney

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to

face

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hPOLARBEARS

U.S. $16.95 / $21.95 CAN

I S B N 978-1-4263-0139-1

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/ PRINTED IN CHINA