A Winter Wonder: The Birth of Polar Bear Cubs

Amid the bitter cold and fierce snowstorms of an Arctic winter, mother polar bears give birth to their cubs in protected maternity dens during the darkest days of the year. Between now and the first week of January, babies are born to pregnant females who have managed to make their way inland to den sites between July and November, where they have spent the last few months growing the next generation of polar bears. And what better way to spend a cozy interlude this holiday season than by joining Eddy Savage for a virtual peek into a polar bear den. Imagine tiny little naked cubs the size of a water bottle emerging from their mother’s body to begin life in the frigid Arctic. Bear expert Eddy shares the entire process behind this marvel, explaining how polar bears mate in springtime, what their gestation period is, what den sites are like throughout the circumpolar North, and how the cubs grow and develop.


Originally presented December 22, 2021

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