Russia celebrates the birthday of polar bears ahead of the New Year holidays. This symbolic date was chosen to mark the time when female bears get settled in their maternity dens.

A female polar bear usually gives birth to one or two tiny (500 grams each) cubs that gain weight quickly on their mother’s milk. By the time they leave the den in late March or early April, the cubs already weigh some 10 kilograms.

The cubs can stay with their mum until they are two and a half years old. The first year of life is the most difficult: from 30 percent to 50 percent of bear cubs die in the harsh Arctic conditions.

The polar bear is listed in the Red Data Book. All polar bear hunting is prohibited in Russia.