Polar & tundra

Polar regions and tundra are defined by extreme cold, long darkness, and frozen ground. Animals here survive on thick insulation, seasonal migration, or antifreeze chemistry.

12 animals in this habitat

Mammals LC Arctic Fox Vulpes lagopus The Arctic fox has the warmest fur of any mammal, changes colour with the seasons, and can raise a litter of 18 in a lemming boom. Learn how it survives −50 °C and follows polar bears for scraps. Read the guide →

Birds LC Gentoo Penguin Pygoscelis papua The gentoo penguin is the fastest bird in the water, hitting 36 km/h underwater, and it courts its mate with a gift of pebbles. Learn how gentoos live at the edge of Antarctica. Read the guide →

Mammals LC Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae The humpback whale sings songs that evolve and spread across oceans, blows nets of bubbles to trap fish, and migrates up to 8,000 km between polar feeding grounds and tropical breeding waters. Read the guide →

Birds LC King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus The king penguin is the second-largest penguin, with the longest breeding cycle of any bird — over a year per chick. Learn how its brown, woolly-looking chicks survive a sub-Antarctic winter. Read the guide →

Mammals LC Leopard Seal Hydrurga leptonyx The leopard seal is Antarctica's top seal predator — a huge, reptilian-headed hunter that kills penguins and other seals but also filters krill through its teeth. Learn how this loner lives. Read the guide →

Mammals LC Narwhal Monodon monoceros The narwhal is an Arctic whale whose male grows a spiralled tusk up to three metres long — a single tooth packed with millions of nerve endings. It dives deeper than almost any marine mammal. Read the guide →

Mammals VU Walrus Odobenus rosmarus The walrus uses its metre-long tusks to haul onto ice and its 700 whiskers to find clams on the dark seabed. Learn how this Arctic giant feeds, why it turns pink, and how ice loss threatens it. Read the guide →

Mammals LC Wolverine Gulo gulo The wolverine is a 15-kilogram member of the weasel family that drives bears off carcasses and hunts prey in deep snow. Learn how it survives the far north and why warm winters threaten it. Read the guide →

Mammals DD Orca Orcinus orca The orca is the ocean's top predator — a giant dolphin that hunts in coordinated family pods and even kills great white sharks. Learn how orca culture works and why some populations are collapsing. Read the guide →

Mammals VU Polar Bear Ursus maritimus The polar bear is the largest land carnivore and a marine mammal that hunts seals from sea ice. Learn how it stays warm, why it needs the ice, and how warming threatens it. Read the guide →

Birds VU Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus The snowy owl is a heavy, day-hunting owl of the Arctic tundra that lives and breeds on lemmings. Learn how it survives the cold, why some years it flies far south, and why numbers are falling. Read the guide →

Birds NT Emperor Penguin Aptenodytes forsteri The emperor penguin breeds through the Antarctic winter, the harshest conditions any bird faces. Learn how males incubate eggs at −40 °C and why sea ice loss threatens the species. Read the guide →