Animals

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a bear native largely within the Arctic circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world’s largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak bear, which is approximately the same size.

They are the largest land meat-eater in the world and the largest of the bear family. They are well suited to the cold Arctic ice and snow.

The polar bear has many unique adaptations for dealing with the Arctic cold. The polar bear’s skin is actually black, which allows it to soak up as much heat as possible from the sun. They are also great swimmers and will swim from ice floe to ice floe. They have been seen swimming 50 miles away from any ice or land.

Sexually mature at 4-8 years. Breed polygamously, April through June, with 1-3 cubs every 28 months. Pregnant females dig a den in October through December where cubs are born December to January and stay until March or April. Lactation lasts 28 months. May live 25-30 years.

They spend their entire life associated with pack ice. Females may prefer ice along the shoreline while others prefer moving sea ice at the floe edge -usually within 180 miles of shore.

Eats mostly ringed and bearded seals. They will occasionally eat other mammals, eggs, vegetation and beach-cast carrion. Polar bears don’t drink water. They get all the liquids that they need from the animals that they eat.

The Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a medium to large bird of prey, whose range covers most of Europe and extends into Asia. It is typically between 51–57 cm in length with a 110 to 150 cm (1 metre to a metre and half) (48–60 inch) wingspan, making it a medium-sized raptor. There are around 40,000 breeding pairs in Britain. It is usually resident all year, except in the coldest parts of its range, and in the case of one subspecies.

In the breeding range in northern, eastern and central Europe, voles are the most important prey, and other small rodents, birds, frogs, and insects are also taken. Buzzards also feed on carrion and invertebrates, including earthworms). In the winter range in southern Africa, prey includes rodents, lizards, and insects. Most prey are captured after a descent from a perch, but this species also soars to locate potential food, and it also hovers like a kestrel.
Builds a large platform stick nest lined with smaller sticks and green foliage and usually placed in a tree, but sometimes on rock ledges or on quarry faces (Tubbs 1972, Tubbs and Tubbs 1985). Clutch size is 2-4 white eggs with brown markings. The incubation period is 28-30 days. Sometimes rather unwary near the nest.

The preferred habitat of Common Buzzards is open countryside with small areas of woodland or the edges of more densely wooded areas. With decreased persecution, they are often being found closer to populated areas, where they can scavenge waste.

Common Buzzards prey mainly on small rodents and mammals, though they will take reptiles, amphibians, large insects, invertebrates and young birds.

Common Buzzards are regularly mobbed by crows, rooks, ravens and jackdaws. Buzzards are relatively unmanoeuvrable in the air, the mobbing birds get above the buzzard & force it to the ground, occasionally a small group of larger birds can kill the buzzard, usually with their sharp beaks.