Polar Bear - Svalbard - 4
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Polar bears are one of the worlds largest land-based predators, only the Kodiak bear can rival them. Males can grow to more than 700kg (Spitsbergen record 850kg, world record 1,008kg) females can reach more than 500kg.
The Svalbard population is continuous with that of Franz Josef land, the bears travel across the sea-ice in the winter to get between the two.
Photo; © Paul Ward - These are pictures from a cruise around Svalbard inside the Arctic Circle in high summer.