Bathing & Cleaning

Polar bears like to be clean and dry because matted, dirty, and wet fur is a poor insulator.

According to scientist Ian Stirling in summer, after feeding, polar bears head for open water and spend up to 15 minutes washing off, licking their paws, chests, and muzzles. They then dry themselves by shaking off excess water and rubbing their fur in the snow.

In winter, polar bears clean themselves with snow (and with water, when available). They also rub their heads in the snow, push forward on their tummies, and roll on their backs.

Polar bears are also known to groom chunks of ice from their paws to make walking more comfortable.

Mother polar bears lick their cubs to keep them clean. Cubs also lick themselves and each other.

Sleeping & Bedding

Just like humans, most polar bears sleep for seven to eight hours at a stretch—and they take naps, too.

On the ice in spring and summer, polar bears tend to sleep more during the day than at night, because seals are more active at night. But the terms day and night hold little meaning in the Arctic, where there are 24 hours of daylight during summer and 24 hours of darkness in winter.

Napping

Polar bears nap just about anywhere, any time, and especially after feeding on a seal. Napping helps them conserve energy, since their entire existence centers around hunting, eating, and conserving energy.

Bedding

In winter, polar bears sleep in shallow pits they dig in the snow, putting their sides or backs to the wind.

They can sleep right through blizzards in day beds dug in the lee of a ridge. The snow piles up on top of them and provides an insulating blanket. Sometimes they stay curled up under the snow for several days until the storm passes.

In summer, polar bears curl up on the tundra or on an ice patch, sometimes using a block of ice or an outstretched paw as a pillow. Landlocked bears dig sleeping pits in the sand or in gravel ridges along the shoreline.