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The polar bear is the largest land carnivore and has a reputation as the only animal that actively hunts humans. Found throughout the circumpolar Arctic, they are the most northerly distributed species of bear, with the largest ever recorded polar bear measuere over 12 feet long and wighed a reported 2,210 pounds.

 

Usually solitary, except during the breeding season (midsummer),  they will sometimes aggregate to feed on large whale carcasses, being most active at night. They are carniverous with a diet that consists of mostly sea mammals such as ringed seasl, bearded seals and walruses. The bears will also eatch shoreline carrion ssuch as beached whales, fish and crabs.

 

While out on the ice, a ploar bear may bo weeks without eating andliving entirely off its fat reserves bofore it kills a seal. The bears huge stomach allows it to take full advantage of any windfall and can eat up to 150 pounds of food in a singel sitting. To maintain it's body weight however, on averag a polar bear must kill one seal every five to six days. However, as with most carnivores, it noes not digest starches well and the polar bears liver is extremely rich in vitamin A. With between 15,000 and 30,000 units per gram, it makes the flesh extremely toxic to humans (and lethal to the Arctic explorers of previous centuries who used to hunt them for food on long expeditions.)