Arctic animals. North Pole: Fauna, survival in a harsh climate

The Arctic zone is a vast northern expanse stretching from the Aleutian Islands to Iceland. This is the boundless realm of eternal cold and ice, where the piercing winds howl, thick fogs spread and there are frequent snowfalls. A gloomy picture promises us an endless polar night and the same endless polar day. What animals live on the North Pole?

It would seem that it is impossible to survive under such harsh conditions. But nevertheless in the north arctic birds and animals perfectly exist. They are not afraid of permafrost and cold and lead a full-fledged way of life. Particularly interesting animals are the North Pole for children. This is due primarily to their unusual habitat and the conditions of eternal ice and cold.

Fauna of the North Pole

The most ancient inhabitants of northern latitudes are seals. To these animals it is possible to carry a sea hare. This is a fairly large seal, whose growth reaches two and a half meters, and weight - four hundred kilograms. This group includes the harp seal, which is slightly smaller, and a ringed seal that knows how to dig burrows in the snow.

Walruses are also inhabitants of the northern latitudes. They are relatives of seals. The weight of such an animal reaches one ton. Nature has presented walruses with huge tusks, which help them to stir up the bottom to get shellfish for food. In addition, they need them for self-defense in case of danger. As walruses and predators themselves, they attack other animals. For example, seals and seals.

The polar bear is the largest land animal of the North Pole. His body is two and a half meters in length, and the weight is about 500 kg. He actively attacks seals, walruses and seals, even does not disdain dolphins. But the Arctic fox always lives near the bear, because it feeds on the scraps that it receives from this mighty beast. In general, bears are the most formidable and dangerous animals.

The North Pole is rich in both animals and birds, despite such harsh living conditions. They are perfectly adapted to life in these parts.

Birds of the North Pole

Birds are the most numerous inhabitants of the boundless north. The pink gull is perhaps the smallest bird in the region. It weighs no more than a quarter of a kilogram, but it feels rather comfortable and good here. Kaira is another resident of the northern region. Its feathering resembles the clothes of a Catholic priest, and the habits are similar to the behavior of a brisk bazaar. Nests, she vyle in the most impregnable cliffs, and winters, oddly enough, on the ice floes. And while she does not feel any cold and discomfort. For her, these are quite usual conditions.

It is worth remembering about the eider of the common. It's such a northern duck. She dives into the icy water to a sufficiently large depth. But the biggest and most formidable bird is the polar owl. It's quite a fierce predator, which attacks birds and can even eat a cub of such a small animal as an arctic fox.

Penguins

The animals of the North Pole are always very interesting for children. Especially many questions arise regarding polar bears and penguins. Well, with the bears everything is simpler. But there are a lot of misconceptions about penguins. It should be noted that the inhabitants of the North Pole are very different from the southern inhabitants. For children this is sometimes not entirely clear. Meanwhile, penguins live only in the Southern Hemisphere.

Although few people know that at the North Pole lived similar to penguins. They were called wingless loons. Previously, these birds colonized the northern islands in huge colonies. People massively killed them for meat and eggs, overheated fat. They were destroyed everywhere. The last individuals lived on islands near Iceland. But they disappeared in 1844. So, unfortunately, people caused the death of a whole species of birds. So the penguins at the North Pole do not live.

In the thirties of last century there were attempts to move the royal penguins to the northern latitudes. But the experiment was not very successful, and after some time (20 years) they disappeared. Of course, you could populate the penguins in the north. Only the question arises: are they going to have enough food there? They feed on fish. And trawlers catch fish so much that it even affected the bird populations. So what to say about penguins!

Cetaceans

In the Arctic live and cetaceans. Among them, the narwhal is particularly interesting. Popularity he gained because of his large horn, which reaches three meters in length and is in fact nothing more than a tooth. He does not give the mammal any inconvenience. But he does not know why he needs it.

The relative of the narwhal is the bowhead whale. However, he is much larger, and instead of a tooth, he has a whalebone. Despite its huge size, this animal is completely safe and lives in the northern waters for many thousands of years. This company can include the polar dolphin. Beluga is a large enough animal weighing up to two tons and a length of six meters. It feeds on fish.

If we talk about the characteristics of survival in the northern latitudes, then we need to remember about the predators that are even in the water. If on land a thunder is a bear, then in the water is the danger of a killer whale. She is the leader among the most powerful sea predators. It often appears in the Arctic waters. Not only belugas, but also seals, seals and walruses become its victims.

While studying at school, the animals of the North Pole for children are of special interest. This is due primarily to their unusual habitat and the conditions of eternal ice and cold.

Instead of an afterword

As we have seen, the animal world of the Arctic is quite diverse, despite the difficult conditions of life. The very appearance of the animals already speaks of their struggle against the cold. The white bear and the fox have very warm and dense fur, the guillemot has dense plumage, walruses and seals have thick subcutaneous fat. All these tricks help animals to keep warm and protect them from hypothermia.