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Photos and videos of wildlife, places, and nature from WWF.

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Antarctica: The Coldest Place on Earth! 

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Antarctica: The Coldest Place on Earth! 

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Antarctica: The Coldest Place on Earth! | SciShow Kids

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How do Whales, Penguins, and Polar Bears Keep Warm?

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How do Whales, Penguins, and Polar Bears Keep Warm?

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How do Whales, Penguins, and Polar Bears Keep Warm?

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What Animals Live in the Arctic? | Where is the Arctic for Kids

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How Do Animals Survive in the Arctic? 🐻‍❄️ - Animals for Kids - Educational Video

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Antarctica | Learn Facts about Antarctica for Kids

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Arctic facts

1. The Arctic is located at the northernmost part of our planet. Scientists usually define the Arctic as the area above the ' Arctic Circle' - an imaginary line that circles around the top of the globe.

2. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of , , the , Greenland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable North and South Pole primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

3. Because of the 's tilt, for at least one day a year there's an entire day of darkness in this freezing region - and also a full day of sunshine. Imagine that!

4. Temperatures as low as - 70°C have been recorded in northern Greenland. Brrrrr!

5. Despite the freezing-cold temperatures, approximately four million people call this wintery wonderland home! Amongst these are the indigenous people of the Arctic, called the ' Inuits '. They've found ingenious ways to survive in one of the harshest environments on our planet.

6. In 1958, a submarine called the USS Nautilus sailed beneath the frozen ice of the Arctic Ocean. This was proof that the enormous ice sheet rests on water and not land.

7. The Arctic is home to lots of wonderful wildlife, including polar bears, Arctic foxes, walruses, seals and !

8. One fascinating species found only in the Arctic is the narwhal, often referred to as the 'unicorn of the sea'. Why? Well, male narwhals have a straight tusk projecting from the front of their head that can grow to over 3m in length!

9. The word 'Arctic' comes from the Greek word for bear, . But this isn't because of the polar bears! It's believed the name refers to two constellations that can be seen in the northern sky - 'Ursa Minor' (Little Bear) and 'Ursa Major' (Great Bear).

10. The ice of the Arctic contains around ten percent of the world's fresh water. This giant, white, frozen reservoir reflects sunlight, helping keep the region cool. It also plays a super-important role in keeping our global climate stable.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable polar bear primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

Images: Getty

What did you make of our Arctic facts? Let us know by leaving a comment, below!

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10 facts about the Arctic | National Geographic Kids

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Check out ten chilly Arctic facts here at National Geographic Kids! Where is the Arctic? How cold is it? Who lives in the Arctic? Find out here!

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Walruses have long tusks and a prominent mustache. These large marine mammals are found near the Arctic Circle. They are extremely social and snort and bellow loudly at their companions. During the mating season they are quite aggressive. Walruses have wrinkled brown and pink skin, long, coarse whiskers, flat flippers, and lots of blubber on their bodies to keep them warm in the cold Arctic water. They can slow down their heartbeat to withstand the chilly water temperatures and to help them stay under water for as long as ten minutes. Their long tusks are useful in many ways. They use them to pull their enormous bodies out of frigid waters, and seem to walk on their tusks. They also use their tusks to break breathing holes into ice from below. Tusks are found on both males and females and keep growing throughout their lives. These tusks are actually canine teeth and can grow to be about three feet (one meter) long. Their whiskers are very sensitive and help the walruses find their favorite meals, such as clams, way down in the deep, dark ocean floor. Their whiskers are longest at the corners of their mouth. Only Native Americans are currently allowed to hunt walruses, as the species’ survival was threatened by past overhunting. Hunters in the 18th and 19th centuries captured walruses for their tusks, oil, skin, and meat and now there aren’t any walruses in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and around Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia.

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The Arctic fox ( Valpes lagopus) is an omnivorous (meat-eating and plant-eating) member of the Canidae family. The Arctic fox can also be called the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox. It lives in the Arctic tundra habitats of northern Europe, northern Asia, and North America. The Arctic fox is found at elevations up to 9,800 ft. (3,000 m.) above sea level and has been seen on sea ice close to the North Pole. Natural predators of the Arctic fox are golden eagles, Arctic wolves, polar bears, wolverines, red foxes, and grizzly bears.

The Arctic fox is about 10-12 inches high (25-30 cm) and it weighs from 6.5 to 21 pounds (2.7-4.5 kg). The females tend to be smaller than the males. The Arctic fox has a round body shape, a short nose and legs, and short fluffy ears. This small round shape means that less of its body surface is exposed to the cold, which helps to keep it warm. It has a deep, thick fur which is brown in summer and white in winter. The pups are born with brown fur which changes to white as they get older.

There are two genetically different coat color morphs: white and blue. In the winter, the white morph is white and turns brown along the back with light grey around the abdomen in summer. The blue morph is often a dark blue, brown, or grey color year-round. 99% of the Arctic fox population is the white morph. The white morph mainly lives inland (away from the sea) and blends in with the snowy tundra, while the blue morph lives near the coast because its darker color blends in with the cliffs and rocks.

Adaptations

Arctic foxes must endure temperatures outside that are extremely different from their internal core temperature. To prevent heat loss, the Arctic fox curls up tightly, tucking its legs and head under its body and behind its furry tail. Arctic foxes also stay warm by getting out of the wind and staying in their dens.

Arctic foxes do not hibernate. They grow thicker fur in the autumn and put on more than 50% of their body weight as fat for insulation and as saved-up energy. The fur of the Arctic fox provides the best insulation of any mammal. It is the only fox that has fur on its paws. Its broad, fluffy paws let it walk on ice and snow to look for food.

The Arctic fox has such good hearing that it can hear small animals under the snow. When it hears an animal under the snow, it jumps and punches through the snow to catch its victim.

Arctic foxes also have a keen sense of smell. They can smell carcasses that are often left by polar bears as far away as 6 to 24 miles.

Arctic foxes live in large dens in frost-free, slightly raised ground. These are complex systems of tunnels covering as much as 1,200 sq yds (1,000 m ²) and are often in eskers, which are long ridges of sedimentary material deposited in areas where there used to be glaciers. These dens may be in existence for decades and are used by many generations of foxes.

Arctic foxes tend to choose dens that are easy to enter. There are many openings and dens are clear from snow and ice, making them easier to burrow in. The Arctic fox builds and chooses dens that face southward toward the sun, which makes the den warmer. Arctic foxes prefer large, maze-like dens so that they can more easily escape predators.

Arctic foxes are omnivores. They eat lemmings, Arctic hares, fish, birds, eggs, fruit, insects, small seals, and carrion. They scavenge on carcasses left by larger predators as well. Their main prey is lemmings, and a family of foxes can eat dozens of lemmings each day. They also eat berries and seaweed, so they are considered omnivores. This fox eats all bird eggs except the largest tundra bird species. When they have more food than they need, the Arctic fox buries (caches) the extra to store for later.

Reproduction

Arctic foxes form pairs in the breeding season. Breeding usually takes place in April and May. It takes 53 days for the pups to grow in the mother before they are born. The mother can produce 5-8 cubs, and sometimes as many as 25 cubs, depending on the availability of food. Both the mother and the father help to raise their young pups. The young come out of the den when they are about 3 to 4 weeks old and are weaned by 9 weeks of age. Arctic foxes live for about 3 to 6 years.

Conservation status

Overall, the conservation status of the species is good. Several hundred thousand individuals are estimated to remain. The IUCN given the Arctic fox the status of " least concern."

The larger red fox is catching up in numbers to the Arctic fox. Scientists think that climate change could be the reason. When there is less snow cover, the Arctic fox is not as camouflaged as when there is more snow on the ground.

New Zealand does not allow Arctic foxes to be brought into the country. In their Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, New Zealand classed the Arctic fox as a "prohibited new organism."

Conservation status

The Arctic fox has been assessed as least concern on the IUCN Red List since 2004. However, the Scandinavian mainland population is acutely endangered, despite being legally protected from hunting and persecution for several decades. The estimate of the adult population in all of Norway, Sweden, and Finland is fewer than 200 individuals. Of these, especially in Finland, the Arctic fox is even classified as critically endangered, because even though the animal was pacified in Finland since 1940, the population has not recovered despite that. As a result, the populations of Arctic fox have been carefully studied and inventoried in places such as the Vindelfjällens Nature Reserve (Sweden).

The pelts of Arctic foxes with a slate-blue coloration were especially valuable. They were transported to various previously fox-free Aleutian Islands during the 1920s. The program was successful in terms of increasing the population of blue foxes, but their predation of Aleutian Canada geese conflicted with the goal of preserving that species.

The Arctic fox is losing ground to the larger red fox. This has been attributed to climate change -the camouflage value of its lighter coat decreases with less snow cover.

The world population of Arctic foxes is thus not endangered, but two Arctic fox subpopulations are. One is on Medny Island ( Commander Islands, Russia), which was reduced by some 85-90%, to around 90 animals, as a result of mange caused by an ear tick introduced by dogs in the 1970s. The population is currently under treatment with antiparasitic drugs, but the result is still uncertain.

The other threatened population is the one in Fennoscandia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Kola Peninsula). This population decreased drastically around the start of the 20th century as a result of extreme fur prices, which caused severe hunting also during population lows.

Interesting facts about Arctic Foxes

Arctic foxes are about the size of domestic cats.

They use their tails to help them balance and as a blanket.

Arctic foxes mate for life. Both parents raise the pups.

As of now, there is no danger of extinction for Arctic foxes.

Arctic foxes will eat almost anything.

They have been seen hiding food under rocks for the future.

Sweden has the Arctic fox as its symbol.

The Arctic fox is classed as a "prohibited new organism" under New Zealand's Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, preventing it from being imported into the country.

Images for kids

In Spanish: Vulpes lagopus para niños

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The Arctic hare ( Lepus arcticus) is a social animal that lives in the frigid tundra of North America, Newfoundland, and Greenland.

These hares often congregate in groups of up to 200 individuals.

They hop at great speeds on their large, powerful hind legs, in a kangaroo-like fashion.

The female is called a doe, the male is called a buck, and the baby hare is called a leveret.

The young are born open-eyed and furry. Most hares live for about a year in the wild.

Characteristics

The Arctic hare is one of the largest living lagomorphs. On average, this species measures from 43 to 70 cm (17 to 28 in) long, not counting a tail length of 4.5 to 10 cm (1.8 to 3.9 in). The body mass of this species is typically between 2.5-5.5 kg (6-12 lb), though large individuals can weigh up to 7 kg (15 lb).

The Arctic hare is a herbivore, and specifically a folivore. Arctic hares feed primarily on woody plants, and willow constitutes 95 percent of their diet year-round. Arctic hares predominantly consume such as saxifrage, crowberry, and dwarf willow, but can also eat a variety of other foods, including lichens and mosses, blooms, other species' leaves, twigs and roots, mountain sorrel and macroalgae (seaweed). Arctic hare diets are more diverse in summer, but still primarily consists of willow, dryas and grasses. Arctic hare have been reported to occasionally eat meat, including fish and the stomach contents of eviscerated caribou. They eat snow to get water.

Female hares can have up to eight baby hares called leverets. The leverets stay within the mother's home range until they are old enough to survive on their own.

There is little information on the lifespan of Arctic hare. Some anecdotal evidence suggests they live three to five years in the wild. Arctic hare do not survive well in captivity, living only a year and a half at most.

Known predators of the Arctic hare are the Arctic fox ( Vulpes lagopus), red fox ( Vulpes vulpes), gray wolf ( Canis lupus), Canada lynx ( Lynx canadensis), ermine ( Mustela erminea), snowy owl ( Bubo scandiacus), gyrfalcon ( Falco rusticolus), rough-legged hawk ( Buteo lagopus), and humans ( Homo sapiens).

The Arctic wolf is probably the most successful predator of the Arctic hare, and even young wolves in their first autumn can catch adult hares. Arctic foxes and ermines, which are smaller, typically prey on young hares. Gyrfalcon carry hares to their nests, cutting them in half first; gyrfalcons use hare bones and feet in the structure of their nests on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. Peregrine falcons ( Falco peregrinus) also prey on Arctic hares in the southern end of the hares' range. The Snowy owls mainly targets young hare; the French common name of the species derives from Anglo-Saxon harfang ("hare-catcher").

Range and habitat

The Arctic hare is distributed over the northernmost regions of Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands and Northern Canada, including Ellesmere Island, and further south in Labrador and Newfoundland. The Arctic hare is well-adapted to the conditions found in the tundras, plateaus and treeless coasts of this region, including cold weather and frozen precipitation. The Arctic hare may be found at elevations between 0 ( sea level) and 900 m.

In Newfoundland and southern Labrador, the Arctic hare changes its coat colour, moulting and growing new fur, from brown or grey in the summer to white in the winter, like some other Arctic animals including ermine and ptarmigan, enabling it to remain camouflaged as their environments change. However, the Arctic hares in the far north of Canada, where summer is very short, remain white all year round.

Images for kids

In Spanish: Lepus arcticus para niños

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Long, white tusks break the surface of the icy Arctic water. It's not a waterlogged herd of unicorns-it's a pod of narwhals! This species of whale is best known for its tusk-a long, spiraled tooth that usually only the males develop. (Females occasionally do.)

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The Arctic regions are centered on the North Pole. They include the northern parts of Canada, the United States, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. The…

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Polar bears live along shores and on sea ice in the icy cold Arctic. When sea ice forms over the ocean in cold weather, many polar bears, except pregnant females, head out onto the ice to hunt seals.

Polar bears primarily eat seals. Polar bears often rest silently at a seal's breathing hole in the ice, waiting for a seal in the water to surface. A polar bear may also hunt by swimming beneath the ice. But climate change is making it harder for polar bears to hunt. Ice melts earlier and re-forms later than it has in the past. Without the sea ice, the polar bear must scavenge for other, less nutritious food.

Polar bears roam the Arctic ice sheets and swim in that region's coastal waters. They are very strong swimmers, and their large front paws, which they use to paddle, are slightly webbed. Some polar bears have been seen swimming hundreds of miles from land-though they probably cover most of that distance by floating on sheets of ice.

In fall pregnant polar bears make dens in earth and snowbanks, where they'll stay through the winter and give birth to one to three cubs. In spring the mother emerges from her den followed by her cubs. During that time she will protect them and teach them how to hunt. The U.S., Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Russia signed an agreement in 1973 to protect polar bears.

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Polar bears live along shores and on sea ice in the icy cold Arctic. When sea ice forms over the ocean in cold weather, many polar bears, except pregnant females, head out onto the ice to hunt seals. Polar bears primarily eat seals.

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The Arctic is the smallest of the world's oceans. It occupies the most northern region of Earth. The North Pole is near the center of the Arctic Ocean. Physical Features The...

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Harp seals spend most of their time diving and swimming in the icy waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. These sleek swimmers often hunt for fish and crustaceans at 300 feet (90 meters) and may dive to nearly 1,000 feet (300 meters). They are able to remain submerged for up to 15 minutes.

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Harp Seal Facts and Pictures -- National Geographic Kids

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Harp seals spend most of their time diving and swimming in the icy waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. These sleek swimmers often hunt for fish and crustaceans at 300 feet (90 meters) and may dive to nearly 1,000 feet (300 meters). They are able to remain submerged for up to 15 minutes.

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It's cold at the poles. In the Arctic, the average winter temperature is about around minus 22°F. At the South Pole, it is even colder. The lowest temperature ever recorded-minus 129°F-was in Antarctica.

Even though it's chilly in polar regions, they do have seasons-well, two seasons: summer and winter. In the summer, the sun shines 24 hours a day, but it never gets high enough above the horizon to warm things up, so even summers are pretty cold. It's dark all winter at the poles, because the sun doesn't rise during those months of the year. Fierce continuous winds make it feel even colder.

You'll see plenty of snow at the poles, but little rain. Antarctica and parts of the Arctic are actually considered deserts because of the lack of rainfall.

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These large owls mainly live in the Arctic in open, treeless areas called tundra. Snowy owls perch on the ground or on short posts. From there they patiently watch for prey. Their favorite target is lemmings-small mouselike rodents-but they also hunt for other small rodents, rabbits, birds, and fish.

Snowy owls have excellent eyesight, but they obviously can't see their prey when it's underneath snow or a thick layer of plants. To capture those meals, the owl relies on its other keen sense: hearing.

In flight, snowy owls generally cruise low to the ground. Once they spot their prey, they approach it from the air, and snatch it up using the large, sharp talons, or claws, on their feet.

Most owls sleep during the day and hunt at night, but the snowy owl is active during the day, especially in the summertime. They tend to be most active at dawn and dusk.

Snowy owl pairs usually mate for life. Female snowy owls lay from 3 to 11 eggs at a time, in a nest built on the ground. When there is plenty of food available, snowy owls tend to lay more eggs than when food is scarce.

Lemmings make up the main part of the snowy owls' diet, and lemming population numbers rise and fall naturally. Sometimes, if there is not enough prey around to feed baby owls, the adult pair won't lay any eggs at all until the supply of food improves.

The female snowy owl sits on her eggs until they hatch. The male feeds her while she keeps their eggs warm and safe. After about one month, the eggs hatch.

Babies are covered in soft white down when they hatch. As new feathers replace the down, the birds become light brown.

The young leave the nest less than a month after they hatch. By the time they're about a month and a half old, the young owls can fly well, but their parents take care of them for another ten weeks or more.

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When you see a snowy owl, it's clear how the bird probably got its name: they're snow-white. Males are generally whiter than females. As males grow older, they get whiter. The females never become completely white-remaining brownish with darker markings. These large owls mainly live in the Arctic in open, treeless areas called tundra.