The polar bear, also known as a sea bear, is the largest carnivore on land, residing in polar regions of the Northern hemisphere. The white bears can be found drifting in the icy waters of Alaska aboard blocks of ice, spending most of their days relaxing and eating. Their food of choice are seals, though they have been known to munch on whale and walrus carcasses. Adult male polar bears can grow to be almost 11 feet tall, weighing between 650 and 1,000 pounds; females are smaller in size. A layer of blubber that is almost five inches thick protects the polar bears from the below freezing temperatures of the area where they live. The bear population once reached as low as 5,000 animals, though they are currently thriving at around 40,000. Beside being hunted and eating polluted food, the main cause of death for polar bears is starvation: with the ice caps melting each year, their hunting season is vastly shortened.
The musk ox is the only hoofed animal residing as far north as the frozen tundra of Alaska. The long hair and woolly undercoat allows for the musk ox to live in the cool temperatures of the tundra. Traveling in herds from 10 to 20 oxen, they primarily survive by feeding on plants, including crowberry, bearberry and willow. On average, the musk ox can weigh up to 850 pounds and can grow up to seven feet in height. Both males and females have horns, but the female's horns are smaller and covered with hair. The musk ox's main natural predator is the artic wolf, though polar bears have been known to hunt the weaker oxen when other food options are gone. They are also easy targets for humans, who hunt them for their fur and meat.
The peregrine falcon, a migrating bird, returns year after year to the same bluff where it was born in order to nest. Its primary food source is other birds, including waterfowl and shorebirds. They are a medium sized falcon ranging from 14 to 18 inches tall with a wingspan greater than 46 inches. The main reason for the decline in the peregrine falcon population is the eating of food that has been poisoned by pesticides or other toxic pollutants. The pesticides they eat is passed on through their eggs, which will either hatch before ready or cause other problems with the newborn falcon.
