At twice the weight of an adult grizzly bear, polar bears are the largest land carnivore on the planet, veritable white masses capable of killing a man with a single blow.
But they are also solitary animals that are rarely related to others of their own kind. For that reason, to observe how they interact with each other, you have to find some large food source – a beached whale, for example – although they will rarely fight each other to occupy a good place at the table.
Fight to reproduce
However, during the mating season things change. Polar bears, which have one of the lowest reproduction rates among mammals, only mate every few years. That forces males into all-out fighting that can end with injuries as serious as a broken jaw or a torn muzzle. Two bears that decide to compete for the attention of a female will observe each other cautiously, measuring forces. Sometimes the smallest one will just walk away. But if they are similar in size, they will intertwine in a terrible dance. With their front legs around the opponent's head, both will try to bite each other's neck until one walks away defeated.
