The polar bear is by far the largest and strongest land-dwelling animal able to survive in the frigid environment of the Arctic. A layer of subcutaneous fat keeps it buoyant like a life jacket, and with its broad paws it can reach an impressive speed of ten kilometers per hour. It feeds mainly by hunting, with seals that linger at the edges of sea ice as its primary prey. When food is scarce, it lives off its fat reserves and can go hungry for several months. The reportedly largest known specimen reached a weight of 1,002 kg and, when standing upright, could have been around 3.5 meters tall.
