IJsbeer in het gras AquaZoo Leeuwarden

Skin of a polar bear

IJsbeer op grasvlakte AquaZoo Leeuwarden

Not white

  • A polar bear's hair picks up the ambient color. Is there mud and does the polar bear roll in it? Then the fur quickly turns brownish.

  • Felix really likes playing in the mud, which is why his coat is not always white.

  • A polar bear's skin is black. This is reflected in the "bare" areas, such as the nose and lips.

Did you know that a polar bear's hair is hollow?

The polar bear's hair is translucent and takes on the color of its surroundings. When you see pictures of polar bears, it is usually in the snow, and so they look white. However, polar bears are far from always walking in the snow. In summer, polar bears are mostly found on the tundra-like areas, where there is a lot of sand, mosses, dwarf shrubs and grasses. Then his fur is also automatically a lot browner. The polar bears in AquaZoo also like to roll around in the mud. That's why they often look a bit brown.

You wouldn't think it, but the polar bear's skin is black. This is due to pigment, just as our skin color is formed by pigment. The hairs of a polar bear are hollow: there is stagnant air in them and therefore there is extra insulation. In this way, a polar bear keeps itself warm.

However, that is not the only way the polar bear guards against the cold. This is because a polar bear's fur is water-repellent. As a result, when it dives, no water remains in the fur and the polar bear ends up feeling no water on its skin.

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