🥛 Polar bear milk
One of the fattiest milks of any land animal.
Polar bear milk is the milk of the female polar bear, with which she feeds her cubs in a snow den. A female polar bear gives birth in a snow den in the middle of winter, and for the first months the cubs live on her milk alone while the mother herself eats nothing. That is why polar bear milk is one of the richest among land mammals.
In a study of free-ranging polar bears (Hedberg and co-authors, 2011), the milk contained about 27 g of fat per 100 ml and about 11–12 g of protein. Carbohydrate content was higher in milk for cubs of the year (about 4.6 g per 100 ml) than for yearlings (about 2.6 g). Older summary tables give a fat content of about 31–33%, and sugar estimates vary noticeably between sources, so the figures should be taken as approximate.
Cubs nurse until about two and a half years old. Data on the milk composition of wild bears are used to develop formulas for hand-rearing orphaned cubs in zoos. Humans, naturally, do not consume this milk.
Composition per 100 g
| Fat | 31 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 10.2 g | |
| Lactose | no data | |
| Energy | 322 kcal | |
| Calcium | no data |
Average values. Values vary a lot with breed, season, feed and stage of lactation. The bar shows the share of the maximum within this group of milks.
Sources: Zhang et al. 2018 (по Jensen 1995), Hedberg et al. 2011
How it connects to milk
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Frequently asked questions
How fatty is polar bear milk?
About 27–33% fat — roughly eight times richer than cow’s milk.
Why do scientists study polar bear milk?
To formulate the right milk for cubs being hand-reared in zoos and rehabilitation centres.
Similar
🥛 Llama milk · 🥛 Alpaca milk · 🥛 Musk ox milk · 🥛 Pig milk · 🥛 Elephant milk · 🥛 Seal milk
ℹ️ Dairy products contain lactose and milk proteins: if you are lactose intolerant or allergic to milk protein, ask a doctor.