Polar bears are huge. They are the undisputed kings of the Arctic, tipping the scales at over 1,500 pounds and possessing the raw power to decapitate a seal with a single swipe. We’ve all seen the documentaries. Usually, it’s a lone bear trekking across an endless, blinding white landscape, looking utterly invincible. But the idea that they have zero enemies is a bit of a myth. Even the apex of the food chain has to look over its shoulder occasionally. If you’ve ever wondered what hunts polar bears, the answer isn’t a single scary monster, but a weird mix of opportunistic predators, internal cannibalism, and a massive, industrial-sized human footprint.
The Only Animals That Dare to Fight Back
In the animal kingdom, size usually equals safety. Mostly. But when you live in a place as desolate as the High Arctic, hunger makes animals do crazy things.
Believe it or not, the killer whale (orca) is probably the most significant non-human predator capable of taking down a polar bear. It doesn’t happen on the ice, obviously. It happens in the water. Polar bears are incredible swimmers—their Latin name, Ursus maritimus, literally means "maritime bear"—but they aren't aquatic athletes compared to a six-ton orca. As the Arctic ice melts and bears are forced to swim longer distances between floes, they become vulnerable. An orca pod is a group of highly intelligent, coordinated hunters. There have been documented sightings near Svalbard and in the Hudson Bay of orcas circling swimming bears. They don't just bite; they drown them. They use their collective weight to create waves that wash a bear off a small ice chunk. It’s brutal, calculated, and honestly, a bit terrifying to think about.
Then you have the sleeper hit of the Arctic: the Greenland shark. These things are ancient. They can live for 400 years and grow to roughly the size of a Great White. For a long time, scientists thought they were just sluggish scavengers. Then, researchers started finding polar bear remains in their stomachs. Now, there is a big debate here. Did the shark kill the bear? Or did it just find a drowned carcass and have a feast? Biologist Kit Kovacs and others from the Norwegian Polar Institute have noted that while these sharks are slow, they are "stealth hunters." They might grab a bear's leg while it's resting at the edge of the ice or sleeping in the water. It’s a slow-motion nightmare.
The Enemy Within: Why Bears Hunt Each Other
Cannibalism is a dark reality of the North. It’s not something National Geographic puts in the "cute cub" montages, but it's a real factor in what hunts polar bears.
Male polar bears are massive compared to females. During the breeding season, or more commonly during years when the sea ice is thin and seals are hard to catch, large males will actively hunt cubs. They aren’t just being mean; it’s a survival strategy. Killing a cub sometimes brings the female back into estrus (ready to mate), and from a purely caloric standpoint, a cub is a meal.
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This isn't just "nature being nature." It's getting worse. Dr. Ian Stirling, one of the world’s leading polar bear experts, has noted an uptick in these "intraspecific" attacks. When the ice disappears, the bears are stuck on land longer. They get hungry. When they get hungry, they stop looking for seals and start looking at each other. You’ll sometimes see mothers desperately trying to outrun a male three times their size, pushing their cubs to move faster through deep slush. It's a high-stakes game of survival where the predator looks exactly like you.
The Human Element: Traditional Hunting and Modern Threats
We can’t talk about what kills these bears without talking about us. Humans have been hunting polar bears for thousands of years.
For the Inuit and other indigenous peoples of the Arctic, the bear—the Nanuk—is a sacred and necessary resource. This isn't "trophy hunting" in the way we think of it in the lower 48. It’s regulated, deeply traditional, and used for food and clothing. In places like Nunavut, Canada, there are strict quotas managed by the government and local hunting organizations to ensure the population stays stable. The hunters use the meat, the fur, and the claws. It’s a relationship built on respect, even if it ends in a hunt.
But then there’s the "accidental" hunt.
- Trophy Hunting: This still exists in specific regions of Canada, though it’s heavily criticized and restricted. Wealthy outsiders pay tens of thousands of dollars for a "guided" hunt.
- Defense of Life and Property: As bears lose their ice, they head to towns like Churchill, Manitoba. When a hungry bear tries to break into a kitchen or a trash bin, encounters often end poorly for the bear.
- The Invisible Killer: Pollution. It’s weird to think of chemicals "hunting" a bear, but it’s happening. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) travel north on wind and water currents. They get stored in seal blubber. The bears eat the seals. Because bears live so long, these toxins build up in their systems, weakening their immune systems and making it harder for them to hunt or reproduce. They are basically being poisoned by proxy.
Do Wolves or Walruses Ever Win?
You might hear stories about wolf packs taking down a bear. Honestly? It's rare. A pack of Arctic wolves might harass a sick or very young bear, but they usually know better. One swipe from a bear can crush a wolf's skull. It’s a high-risk, low-reward scenario for the wolves.
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Walruses are a different story.
A polar bear hunting a walrus is basically a David vs. Goliath situation, except Goliath has two-foot-long ivory tusks and weighs 3,000 pounds. A bear will usually only target a walrus calf. If a bear gets desperate and attacks a full-grown bull, the tables can turn instantly. There are several recorded instances of walruses goring polar bears to death in the water. The bear tries to bite the neck; the walrus stabs the bear’s chest. It’s a grizzly, messy affair that often ends with both animals dying from their injuries.
Why the "Predator" List is Changing
The landscape is shifting. Literally.
The biggest threat to a polar bear isn't a shark or a whale. It's the loss of habitat. When we ask what hunts polar bears, we have to look at the climate. Without sea ice, the bear cannot hunt its primary food: ringed and bearded seals. A bear that can't hunt is a bear that starves. Starvation is the ultimate predator in the Arctic. It claims more lives than all the orcas and hunters combined.
We are seeing bears travel hundreds of miles, burning more calories than they can possibly consume. Their bodies start to break down. They lose muscle mass. Their fur gets ragged. This is when they become vulnerable to things that wouldn't normally touch them. A healthy, 1,000-pound bear is a god of the ice. A 400-pound, starving bear is just a meal for a scavenger.
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Real-World Insights for the Curious
If you’re planning a trip to the Arctic or just want to support these animals, here is the ground-level reality.
First off, if you go to Churchill to see the bears, you'll see "Polar Bear Jail." It's a real place where they keep bears that get too close to town before relocating them. It’s a testament to how we’re trying to manage the conflict. Second, don't believe every viral video you see. Just because a bear is eating something unusual doesn't mean it was "hunted." Bears are opportunistic. They’ll eat a dead whale, a bird egg, or even kelp if they have to.
Nuance matters. The Arctic isn't a Disney movie, and it's not a constant slasher film either. It's a fragile ecosystem where the balance of power is tipped by the thickness of a few inches of ice.
If you want to actually do something about the threats facing polar bears, look into the work being done by Polar Bears International. They track the bears, study the ice, and work on the ground to reduce human-bear conflict. Knowledge is great, but seeing how these threats actually manifest in the wild changes how you view "apex" predators. They are powerful, yes, but they are also incredibly vulnerable to a world that is warming faster than they can adapt.
To truly understand what stalks these giants, keep an eye on the sea ice extent reports from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The less ice there is, the more "hunters" the polar bear has to face.
Next Steps for the Concerned Enthusiast:
- Check the Ice: Follow the NSIDC monthly reports to see how the bears' hunting grounds are holding up.
- Support Coexistence: Research programs that fund "bear-dar" (radar to detect bears near towns) to prevent bears from being shot in self-defense.
- Choose Sustainable Seafood: Reducing the impact on Arctic fisheries helps keep the entire food web—including the seals bears eat—intact.
- Travel Responsibly: If you go to see them, use operators certified in carbon-neutral practices to ensure your visit doesn't contribute to the problem you're there to witness.