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HUNTING AND DIET
It is the most carnivorous member of the bear family, and the one that is most likely to prey on humans as food. It feeds mainly on seals, especially ringed seals that poke holes in the ice to breathe, but will eat anything it can kill: birds, rodents, shellfish, crabs, beluga whales , walruses , occasionally musk oxen , and very occasionally other polar bears.
Polar bears are excellent swimmers and can often be seen in open waters miles from land. This may be a sign that they have begun aquatic adaptations to better catch their prey. They also hunt very efficiently on land due to their prodigious speed; they are more than capable of outrunning a human. Still, caribou and musk oxen easily outrun a polar bear, and polar bears overheat quickly; thus the polar bear subsists almost totally on seals and on walrus calves or adult carcasses.
As a carnivore feeding largely upon fish -eating carnivores, the Polar Bear ingests large amounts of Vitamin A , which is stored in its liver ; in the past, humans have been poisoned by eating polar bear liver. Although largely carnivorous, they will also feed on carrion and also eat some vegetable matter, mainly berries and roots in the late summer, as well as kelp.
Polar bears are aggressive, curious, and extremely dangerous to humans. A polar bear should never be approached and if one is spotted, it is best to retreat slowly on foot, preferably to indoors, or move away in a vehicle.
Regrettably, like other species of bear, they have developed a liking for garbage ; the dump in Churchill, Manitoba is frequently scavenged by polar bears.
