Dangerous land predators
The animals of the Arctic, despite the strong winds and lack of heat, are diverse. Among the inhabitants of the northern space there are many predatory mammals. Their way of life is to constantly move and search for food.
Arctic fox
Belongs to the canine family. This beautiful predator is known for its luxurious “fur coat” far beyond the Arctic. This is a small animal up to 30 cm in length and weighing up to 50 kg. The predator runs fast and is distinguished by its endurance. Often stays near polar bears during hunting and eats their leftovers. The animal can be found throughout the icy land. They are good parents. As soon as the female becomes pregnant, the male begins to hunt for both, bringing prey until the babies are born.
Reference! A notable feature of polar foxes (the second name for arctic foxes) is the change in fur color. In summer it is brown in color, and closer to winter it becomes snow-white.
Polar bear
The largest and most formidable predator that lives on land in this icy region. The animal can reach about 2.5-3 meters in length and weight up to 500 kg. The bear's skin is dark, almost black. The fur is snow-white, but in the summer, under the rays of the sun, it can become covered with yellow spots. Under the skin there is a thick layer of fat. The animal is characterized by endurance and patience in obtaining food.
Hunts walruses, penguins, seals, dolphins. The polar bear not only runs fast, but also swims well, and it is not difficult for him to get food. Therefore, all Arctic animals can fall into the clutches of this predator. Pregnant females mainly go into hibernation.
Wolf
From infancy, these representatives of the animal world become ruthless predators, although they are born deaf and blind. The weight of an adult wolf is 70-80 kg. Wolves eat their prey alive because, due to the structure of their teeth, they are unable to kill it quickly. This predator is omnivorous and can feed on any type of food. Can live for a week without food.
Outwardly they resemble a fluffy, pointy-eared dog. Nature endowed polar wolves with thick snow-white fur and sharp claws, with the help of which the animal easily moves along the icy surface.
Polar bear
The polar bear is perhaps the most famous and largest land animal of the North. Along with the brown Kodiak, it is considered the largest land predator on Earth. It reaches about three meters in length and weighs 400-500 kilograms. The largest representatives of the species inhabit the coast of the Bering Sea.
The polar bear, or nanuk, lives in the polar regions of North America and Eurasia, as well as in Iceland, Spitsbergen and Greenland. It lives on fast ice and drifting ice floes, and in winter it can come to the mainland. To feed itself, it needs a lot of nutritious food, so the bear's main prey is sea hares, walruses and seals. In addition to them, the predator can eat algae, fish and carrion, as well as rob freight forwarders' warehouses and clear out garbage dumps in residential villages.
Thick-billed or short-billed guillemot
The guillemot seabird is a regular at bird markets on the coast of Eurasia. It is distributed from Murmansk to Chukotka and Kamchatka, and is found in the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. Externally, the short-billed guillemot resembles a mixture of a duck and a penguin. The bird's color is two-color: the back, sides and head are covered with black plumage, and the inside of the neck and belly are completely white.
Guillemots settle on coastal cliffs and are located only in large flocks, surrounded by other seabirds, such as gulls. They are not migratory and winter in the Arctic. However, with the arrival of winter they move a little further south.
Amazing birds
The cold region with a harsh climate called the Arctic surprises with its diversity of fauna. Birds also found their place on this piece of land.
White Owl
A very beautiful bird. This is a harsh predator that is constantly in flight for prey. The wingspan of an owl can reach up to 1.5 meters. Males are smaller in size than females and have a distinctive feature in the form of black specks. The eyes are yellow, the ears are so small that they are not visible. The beak is black, but completely hidden under the plumage.
Long claws help them hunt and perch comfortably on elevated places. The diet consists of small mammals.
Interesting fact! In times when there is not enough food, owls stop breeding for this time and fly closer to the southern regions.
Pink seagull
Despite the strong cold winds, this small bird has found its home in the Arctic. It builds nests on the shores of the ocean. The seagull is no more than 35 cm long and weighs only 250 grams. The head is pale pink, and the back and wings are gray. The paws are bright red, and on her neck there is a black collar, which disappears with the onset of severe cold. Swims well in water and can sometimes land on ice floes. It feeds mainly on small insects, fish, crustaceans and mollusks. These fragile birds are often targeted by predators. They are hunted by Arctic foxes and reindeer.
Lyurik
The little auk is the second name for these birds. They nest in high latitudes. Little auks are the most mobile and smallest inhabitants of the Arctic among birds.
They move on land very deftly and quickly. They also feel confident at sea. Great maneuverability and frequent flaps during flight resemble a large insect rather than a bird. The color of the plumage resembles a tailcoat.
Arctic animals are in a daily struggle for life. Natural selection is cruel. Despite this, the northern region shelters a variety of fauna on its land.
Musk ox or musk ox
The massive and stocky musk ox has skillfully adapted to the harsh conditions of the North. The animal has thick, long hair and no protruding body parts, which helps it retain heat better and cope with strong winds and frosts. Its hair can reach almost 60 centimeters in length and hangs almost to the ground.
The musk ox reaches 120-150 centimeters at the withers and weighs 200-350 kilograms. Because of their fur, animals seem even larger than they really are. For example, their closest relative, the takin, looks much slimmer.
The ancestors of these animals came out of the Himalayan mountains and settled throughout Eurasia. Today they are found mainly on the islands of the Canadian archipelago, in the north of mainland Canada and Greenland. Some populations live on the Scandinavian Peninsula and Siberia.
Arctic sea animals
Seal
In Russian territories there are 9 species, all of them are animals of the Arctic and Antarctic . There are seals weighing 40 kilograms, and there are also about 2 tons. Regardless of the species, seals are half fat. It provides warmth and buoyancy. In water, seals, like dolphins, use echolocation.
In the Arctic, seals are hunted by killer whales and polar bears. They usually eat young animals. Large seals are too tough for predators.
Ringed seal
The most common Arctic seal and the main delicacy of polar bears. If the latter are included in the list of protected species, then this does not threaten the seal population yet. According to rough estimates, there are 3 million individuals in the Arctic. Tendency to increase in numbers.
The maximum weight of a ringed seal is 70 kilograms. The animal reaches 140 centimeters in length. Females are slightly smaller.
sea hare
On the contrary, it is the largest of the seals. Average weight is about half a ton. The length of the animal is 250 centimeters. In structure, the hare differs from other seals in its front legs, almost at shoulder level, shifted to the sides.
Possessing powerful jaws, the sea hare lacks strong teeth. They are small and wear out quickly and fall out. Old seals often have toothless mouths. This makes it difficult to hunt fish, the mainstay of the predator’s diet.
Narwhal
A sort of dolphin with a horn instead of a nose. It seems so. The horns are actually long fangs. They are straight and pointed. In the old days, narwhal tusks were passed off as unicorn horns, supporting legends about their existence.
The price of a narwhal tusk is comparable to the cost of elephant tusks. In sea unicorns, the length of the fang can reach up to 3 meters. You won’t find such elephants in modern times.
Walrus
Being one of the largest pinnipeds, walruses grow only meter-long tusks. With them the animal clings to the ice floes, getting ashore. Therefore, in Latin the name of the species sounds like “walking with the help of fangs.”
Walruses have the largest baculum of any living creature. We're talking about a bone in the penis. An Arctic resident “boasts” of a 60-centimeter baculum.
Whale
It is the largest not only among modern animals, but also ever living on earth. The length of the blue whale reaches 33 meters. The weight of the animal is 150 tons. Here are the animals that live in the Arctic . It is not surprising that whales are the desired prey of the northern peoples. Having killed one individual, the same Evenks provide the settlement with food for the entire winter.
Scientists believe that whales evolved from artiodactyl mammals. It’s not for nothing that there are scraps of fur on the bodies of sea giants. And whales feed their offspring with milk for a reason.
