Note: Information is dated. Do not rely on it.

Polar Bear. The polar bear, Thalarctos maritimus, constitutes an entire genus. It is a tall creature with thin sides, long legs, and flat, wide, hairy paws. It stands over four feet high and has a length of over seven feet. Its color is pure white at all times of the year. The home of the polar bear is the ice packs and the barren islands of the Arctic zone, where it wanders at will, living upon fish, seals, walruses, and the scanty vegetable matter of the arctic regions. It is a great swimmer and diver, and remains for hours at a time, evidently with great pleasure, in the icy waters of the northern seas.

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