sierraclub.org - sierra magazine - july/august 2012 - arctic - arctic ice: the other recession
Florian Schulz photographs the wildlife at the top of the world
Photography by Florian Schulz, from To the Arctic | Text by M.P. Klier
A female polar bear in Svalbard attempts to repel the attentions of a male suitor. Female bears give birth in the winter—typically to twins—and will only mate again in the spring after their cubs are weaned, which takes about two and a half years. Polar bears have one of the slowest reproductive cycles of any mammal.