Polar Bear Spotted Sweetly Making 'Snow Angels' in First Snowfall of Season

For polar bears living in zoos, far from their native climes, a little taste of home can be just what the doctor—sorry, veterinarian—ordered. That was certainly the case for this polar bear, who makes his home at a zoo in norther England, and may not see as much snow as he’d like to. His delight in playing in a fresh snowfall is not to be missed.

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In the clip, the polar bear is seen delighting in even a few inches of snow on a hillside in England. The bear is rolling, plowing, burrowing and otherwise trying to get as much snow as possible on its body.

Listen, we get it. You’re a polar bear. You want to be one with the snow.

Zoo Polar Bears

The bears at this zoo take every opportunity to have a good time. Last summer they were playing with an extra-sturdy pool raft.

But hey, if you’re an animal who in the wild regularly travels twenty or more miles a day in search of food, swimming through arctic seas and traversing floes and glaciers, you have to do something to keep your energy up when living in captivity.

“I hate the snow, but I’m happy for these guys,” says one person in the comments. And who wouldn’t be. It’s probably not often that they get a taste of that native weather.

“I could watch this bear’s happiness all day,” remarks another person.

And though the bear in this zoo is safe, the situation is very different from the tens of thousands of polar bears that remain in the wild, who are dealing with drastically reduced environment in which to hunt and live their natural polar bear lives.

All About Polar Bears

Polar Bears are the largest species of land carnivore. (Take that, tigers.) Despite this designation. They are also considered pagophilic—i.e., living on ice—and “marine mammals” due to their vital dependence on the sea access for survival and as a food source. Polar bears are closely related to brown bears and can interbreed with them, a mutation that is becoming more and more common in Arctic climes as the range of these animals shifts on account of climate change.

Polar bear fur is not actually white, but rather clear and hollow, the better to insulate them in icy waters and help them stay afloat. When exposed to the sun, these tubular hairs yellow slightly.

Of note, the word Arctic comes from the ancient word for bear. The Arctic region, therefore, is the land where the bears are.

All About Snow Angels

Snow angels are a time honored winter tradition in which people lie in a fresh batch of snow and sweep their arms and legs out to create an imprint of themselves in the snow that resembles an angel in a gown, with wings.

But humans aren’t the only creatures who enjoy playing or even lying in the snow as a lark, as this polar bear so obviously shows.

No one knows the origin or the term snow angels or where the practice first had its start, but the term first appears in print in publications starting over a hundred years ago.

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