Does alaska have polar bears?

Polar bears occur throughout the northern polar region. In the winter, polar bears in Alaska are found as far south as St. Lawrence Island and occasionally move down to St. Matthew Island and the Kuskokwim Delta. In the summer, bears are most abundant around the edge of the pack ice in the Chukchi Sea and Arctic Ocean. read more

Current and predicted future declines in sea ice led the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list polar bears as threatened under the ESA throughout their range. Thinner ice and longer ice-free periods in summer may reduce the length of time polar bears have to hunt, and result in population declines. read more

Polar Bear Diet. Polar bears eat mainly ringed and bearded seals that live in the Pacific Ocean’s Bering Sea, as well as the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas of the Arctic Ocean. They will wait for ringed seals to surface in their breathing holes or stalk them on ice floes. To catch hauled-out seals, they will pounce from as much as 20 feet away. read more

Polar bears can be seen in Alaska usually in fall and spring during guided wildlife tours available on land in Barrow or by air with several flightseeing operations available from Anchorage, Fairbanks and other towns. They are occasionally seen in summer, too, but less frequently. Although polar bears don’t go into a full hibernation, like brown and black bears, they are scarcely seen in the dead of winter. read more