Why aren't there polar bears in Antarctica?

The habitats of the polar regions are very different from one another. The polar bear is the largest animal on the planet, but it is only found in the north.

There are polar bears in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and occasionally, Iceland. The fur of a polar bear can be used to protect it from the cold. They live on ice for most of their lives, feeding on fat-rich seals that keep them awake for long periods between meals.

Sea ice, cold temperatures, and seals can be found in Antarctica. There are no polar bears on the southernmost continent.

The answer is related to evolution and the geologic history of Earth.

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Andrew Derocher, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta in Canada who has studied polar bears for nearly 40 years, said that bears are largely a Northern Hemisphere phenomenon. The only bears in the Northern Hemisphere are from South America. There is no specific reason for this, just that some species evolve in different places.

There was never a time when the North and South poles were connected by ice. Derocher told Live Science that polar bears are not a terrestrial species at all. The big, white bears live on sea ice for most of their lives.

The polar bears are relatively young. The brown bear's common ancestor was between 5 million and 500,000 years ago, according to Derocher. The polar bears never got the chance to travel from pole to pole because the continents were in the same position. The southern tip of South America is where the closest landmass is. The Drake Passage is difficult to cross for polar bears. Powerful storms and rough seas can be seen in the area as cold water from the south runs into warm water from the north.

Would polar bears survive on the South Pole?

They would have a lot of fun in Antarctica, according to Derocher.

polar bears feed on seals and occasionally birds. There are six seal species and five penguin species in Antarctica. None of those animals have evolved to be wary of large, land-roving predators. No one should ever bring a polar bear to the South Pole because of the landscape's free-for-all buffet. The local faunas are ignorant of large land predators, which would likely lead to ecological collapse. The great white bear should stay in the north.

It was originally published on Live Science.