一篇关于动物的作文英语作文【优秀20篇】

Animals are the best friends of man who can all care for them? I am a favorite little animal, small animals are cute and naughty, like a naughty child.

I like the puppy, the puppy is very cute. I used to have a name: snow and snow to listen to the name to know is a lovely little dog, its hair like snow as white, with a pair of round black eyes, two ears in the head. Cute, but snow is also very naughty, then Ill tell you its naughty it!

One afternoon I came home from school, snow and snow as usual to pick me up, I and it walked on the stairs, to the stairs, it saw my hand bag, all of a sudden bite in the past, I chased it, while chasing Cried: "Snow snow to my bag back, hurry or else I want to teach you." Snow seems to understand, so obediently ran back, hand over the bag. Rub me a bit like me in the request of my understanding, I touched it, and it returned home.

Snow is very cute and very naughty. But I and it is a good friend, I like it snow snow.

Animals are friends of human beings. Most of them are lovely. I like giraffe the most.

They are very tall and have many brown spots. They have very long necks, so that they can eat the leaves in high trees. Giraffes are gentle and lovely.

They are friendly to people. When I go to the zoo, I always look at them. They move slowly.

I can’t keep it as a pet, because it’s so huge. It’s a big pity.

The animal is the friend of our human beings. We live in the same earth.

Animals and human beings can’t be separated from each other. But some animals

are getting less and less. So it’s necessary for us to protect animals,

especially wild animals. Some people kill wild animal because of money. It’s

illegal. Beside, because of the development of society, human needs more space

to live in, so we explore the forest. Animals have less space to live in. The

number of wild animals decreases year by year. It’s high time to take actions to

protect wild animals.

In Taiwan, because most people do not understand the importance of wildlife, the wildlife is in a poor situation. We Chinese are fond of eating anything delicious, so there are many animals killed by hunters. People enjoy eating tigers, bears, birds, and lions, so there are fewer and fewer birds flying in the sky and fewer and fewer bears running here and there in the forest. Instead, we often see them for sale at the market. How poor they are! And how cruel we are!

In my opinion, we should try every possible way to preserve wildlife. First, no one is allowed to hurt any wild animal. Second, the authorities concerned should punish those who kill any wild animal. Third, we should pay more attention to those endangered species to protect them from being eaten. If we can do so, nature must become very beautiful.

在台湾,因为大多数人不了解野生动物的重要性,野生动物是在一个贫穷的情况下。我们中国人喜欢吃什么美味,所以有许多动物被猎人杀害。人们喜欢吃老虎,熊,鸟,和狮子,所以有越来越少的鸟在天上飞,越来越少的熊在森林里到处跑。相反,我们经常看到他们在市场出售。他们是多么可怜!我们是多么残酷!

在我看来,我们应该尝试每个可能的方法来保护野生动物。首先,没有人可以伤害任何野生动物。其次,有关当局应该惩罚那些杀害野生动物。第三,我们应该多注意那些濒危物种保护其不被吃掉。如果我们能这样做,自然必须变得非常漂亮。

Many wild animals are facing the danger of extinction， because the environment that they are living in has changed greatly。 For example， with the developmet of cities， the using of insecticide and serious pollution， their living areas have become narrowcr and narrower。 Many of the wild animals， now are confronted with food crisis。 At the same time， man is killing off species just for getting their fur， skin， horns， teeth and meat。

In order to protect our resources of ecology， people should realize that the loss of any species is at least the loss of source of knowledge and a source of natural beauty。 There fore， measures of the following should be taken： pollution standards are made to keepdown poisons; killing off certain rare species is prohibited; national parks should be set up as wild life， reserves。

Only if we human beings take some drastic measures can wild animals be preserved。

I have a dog, it is lovely, it is called Mimi. Every time I go home from school, Mimi always cruising around me, I will go to the kitchen to get a piece of meat to it, it lay on the floor to eat. My legs and then jump to bark "Wang "called, so I picked up Mimi, it is the opportunity to lick my hand, making me laugh.

I like Mimi, like puppies.

我有一条小狗，它很可爱，它叫咪咪。每当我放学回家时，咪咪总是围着我绕圈，我便去厨房拿一片肉给它，它就趴在地板上吃。然后跳到我腿上汪汪汪地叫，于是我抱起咪咪，它就乘机舔我的手，逗得我哈哈大笑。

我喜欢咪咪，喜欢小狗。

Many animals are in danger of dying out. As is shown in the chart, we can

see the number of animal species decreases faster and faster and this trend will

continue. From 1980 to 2010, at least 1 million animal species have disappeared.

Worse still, more and more wild animals are in great danger. It is not a piece

of sensational news; it is a fact, a harsh reality. Unfortunately, we may not

see these animals in the near future.

From the second picture, we can find some reasons. Why is the number of

animal species declining year by year? Apparently animals have become victims of

fashion industry. Animal skin has been used to make fashionable clothes and

these clothes sell at a high price. So some greedy people begin to kill animals

in a large quantity. This irresponsible behavior not only breaks the balance of

nature but also endangers the living environment of human beings.

As far as I am concerned, something must be done to stop this illegal

action. We believe "no buying, no killing". First, we must make concerning laws

to protect these animals in danger. Second, we must take some measures to

protect animals effectively. Animals are our friends and part of our

environment. Third, we should raise peoples awareness to protect animals and

our environment. In this way, we can build a harmonious society and ensure a

sustainable development.

June 23rd Sunday Sunny

It was a fine day today and the sun was bright. I visited Beijing Zoo with my classmate, He Song. The animals were so interesting that all the people loved them. When a bear asked for some food by waving its ann, a visitor threw something to it. At once I went up to him and said without thinking,Dont do that. Its bad for it. If you really love them, take good care of them. His face turned red and answered he wouldnt do that again.

6月23日星期日睛

今天是个风和日丽的好天，我和同学贺松去了北京动物园。动物们是那么可爱，大家都非常喜欢它们。一只熊挥动着胳膊向人们要吃的，一个游客就投进去了什么东西。我想都没想就走过去说：不要那样做。你的做法对它们没好处。如果真的喜欢它们，就应该爱护它们。他的脸红了，并且回答说他不会再那么做了。

[初一英语作文 爱护动物

My rabbit

I have a pretty rabbit. She wears a white coat. She has two red eyes. She has Long ears. My rabbit likes carrots and vegetables. But it doesn’t like taking a bath. She can run and jump. It likes plating and eating. I have a small football and my rabbit likes playing football with me very much.

I like my rabbit. Do you like my rabbit?

Last week, I saw a very impressive documentary about panda. A professor

studied panda in the early 1980s went to the wild life and kept trace of wild

giant panda for many years. As a result, he found that it was human being that

made these lovely animals die out. At that time, many people believed that giant

panda became less because of the low rate of newborn babies. But it was not

true. People cut trees for making profit at that time. Panda lose homeland and

they lacked of food. Thanks to these valuable data, the government took the

policy to protect the animals. So today, the number of giant panda is

increasing. People realize the importance of protecting the environment and it

is the best way to protect wild animals, they are the indispensable part of the

nature.

我最喜欢的小动物是小猫，我们家就养了一只小猫，它是邻居送过来的。因为现在那只小猫已经死了，所以我会经常想起它。

My favorite little animal is a kitten, and we have a kitten in our house. It was sent by a neighbor. Because the kitten is dead now, so I often think of it.

小猫长得很漂亮，他有一身雪白的毛，爪子下的肉垫可以使他走路没有一丁点声音。最独特的是他的眼睛：一只眼睛是蓝色的，另一只眼睛是绿色的。蓝眼睛像蓝宝石，绿眼睛像绿宝石。

The kitten was beautiful. He had a snow-white coat, and the pads under his paws made him walk without a single sound. The most unique is his eyes: one eye is blue, the other eye is green. Blue eyes are like sapphires, green eyes are like emeralds.

小猫很贪吃，有时一斤重的鱼不一会儿就“消灭”了。有一次，妈妈做了一碗鱼汤。小猫跳上桌子，津津有味的吃了起来。正在吃的时候，它被我发现了，于是我狠狠的教训了他一顿。小猫耷拉着脑袋，好像在说：“我再也不敢了。”我立刻笑了。

Kittens are voracious, and sometimes a pound of fish will soon be wiped out. Once, my mother cooked a bowl of soup. The cat jumped onto the table and ate it with relish. While I was eating, it was discovered by me, so I gave him a hard lesson. The little cat drooped its head as if to say, "I dare not."." I laughed at once.

现在那只小猫已经死了，从那以后，我每次见到小猫，都要和它嬉戏一番。小猫，你到底去了哪里了呢?

Now that kitten has died, since then, every time I see a kitten, I have to play with it. Kitty, where the hell have you been?

Perhaps, everyones heart has their own favorite animals, small to cats, dogs, big to elephants, pandas, giraffes, but, I like animals or insects, small to not see dont see, it is the most easily neglected but a large number of ants.

The ant is a kind of like social insects, dont look at it, but it has a "strong man" title. An ant can lift 50 times more than their weight. 2 times people if can move up the weight of everything is wonderful. People who want to really dust and ants than strength.

Previously, I have heard, the ants are very united, I also saw, in the ant mouth, many ants against a live common caterpillar, thought, and the mere survival needs, hunting together, a lot of animals wolves hunt, hyenas are so common, no surprise. So many ants have thinking every day together, cant afford to infighting just strange!

Later, I saw an article, let I to small awestruck by ants. This article writes: a group of ants meet fire, they didnt panic, immediately transform into a group of formations, these can keep the queens, young ants race survival ant package in the middle, rapid rolling a ball of fire, break through in the direction of the river, outer ant ant regiment repeatedly heard burned after the burst of noise, but not to reduce the ant regiment. Obviously, this outer "ant kingdom hero" by the burning to death also dont loose fraction, courage all crack dont give up their jobs. And in a short while, ant group rushed into the river, as to the other side of the scroll, the river rose a thin layer of smoke... Any creature that has a survival instinct, small ants can in a survival situation, continue to race, choose to sacrifice myself, what a respectable!

Compared with the unity of ants, we should be ashamed of yourself. Sometimes because of the little things, and her classmates went red, shouldnt have. Originally in the world, noble and great really has nothing to do with size, strength, what really matters is strong in spirit, if we have ants so closely united, dedicated spirit, what we cant finish?

也许，每个人的心中都有自己最喜爱的动物，小到小猫、小狗，大到大象、熊猫、长颈鹿，可是，我喜欢的动物或者说是昆虫吧，小到不仔细看根本看不到，它就是最易被人忽视的却又数量庞大的蚂蚁。

蚂蚁是一种喜欢群居的昆虫，别看它微不足道，但它却拥有“大力士”的称号。一只蚂蚁能搬起超过自己体重50倍的物体。人如果能搬起自己体重2倍的东西都很了不起了。人要和蚂蚁比力气可真是望尘莫及。

以前，我曾听别人说过，蚂蚁们十分团结，我也亲眼见过，在蚂蚁洞口，众多蚂蚁共同对付一只活毛毛虫，心想，那只不过是生存需要，共同猎食罢了，好多动物像狼、鬣狗都是这样共同捕食，不足为奇。这么多有思维的蚂蚁天天在一起，不起内讧才怪呢!

后来，看到了一篇文章，让我对小小蚂蚁肃然起敬。这篇文章写道：一群蚂蚁遇到火灾，他们没有惊慌失措，立刻变换队形扭成一团，将蚁后、幼蚁这些可以维持种族生存的蚂蚁包在中间，迅速滚过火球，向河岸方向突围，蚁团不断发出外层蚂蚁被烧焦后爆裂的声响，但是蚁团却不见缩小。显然，这外层被灼焦的“蚁国英雄”们至死也不松动分毫，肝胆俱裂也不放弃自己的岗位。一会儿，蚁团冲进了河流里，随着向对岸的滚动，河面上升腾起一层薄薄的烟雾……但凡生物，都有求生本能，小小蚂蚁却能在生死关头，为了种族延续，选择牺牲自己，多么可敬啊!

和蚂蚁的团结比起来，我们应该感到惭愧。有时因为一点小事，和班里的同学就闹得面红耳赤，真不应该。原来这个世界上，崇高与伟大真的与个头、力量没有关系，真正重要的是精神上的强大，如果，我们具备蚂蚁这样紧密团结，勇于奉献的精神，还有什么事情我们不能完成呢?

There is no denying the fact that keeping pets is a hotly debated topic today. Some people claim that keeping pets is a good thing to do. They believe that pets, like cats and dogs, can help relieve the loneliness suffered by senior citizens and other social members who are confined to their homes for this reason or that. They also argue that keeping pets helps mankind understand animals world and develop positive feelings toward them.

有一个不可否认的事实，即养宠物是当今一个被热烈讨论的话题。有的人认为养宠物是一件好事。他们认为宠物，比如猫和狗，有助于缓解年长者和那些由于这样那样的家庭原因限制的社会成员的孤独感。他们还认为，养宠物有助于人类了解动物世界，培养对它们的积极态度。

Others, however, hold the opposite view. They regard keeping pets as a useless but harmful thing to do. Firstly, pets can transmit diseases. Secondly, the noises and dung of pets are sources of pollution. Last but not least, as many rare birds and animals are kept as pets, they will surely be hunted on a large scale, which means a threat to the balance of the ecosystem.

然而，其他人持相反观点。他把养宠物当做是无用而且有害的事。首先，宠物可以传播疾病。其次，噪音和宠物粪便是污染的来源。最后，许多珍禽异兽作为宠物饲养，他们一定会被大规模猎杀，这意味着威胁到生态系统的平衡。

Weighing the arguments of both sides, I am inclined to agree with the latter. Anyway, we can lessen our loneliness and express our love toward animals in other ways. And it is my beliefs that only by placing man and other species on an equal basis can us expect to have a lively and colorful world.

权衡双方的论据，我更倾向于同意后者。不管怎么样，我们可以通过其他方式来减少我们的孤独和向动物表达我们的爱心。我相信，只有在人类和其他物种平等的基础上，我们才能期待有一个生动多彩的世界。

[关于宠物动物的英语作文

Animal Farm tells a story that one day the animals overthrow the farmer Mr. Jones, and found their own regime, called Animal Farm They adopt Seven Commandments of Animalism, of which the most important is All animals are equal。 Pigs are the leaders of the operation of the newly start-up farm.Thanks to the right lead of the pigs and selfless and hardworking of all animals, the Animal Farm develops good enough to their demands.

However, the leaders separate into two factions soon after. As a result, Snowball is expelled by Napoleon as a betrayer. Although many animals remember that Snowball is a brave leader, they firmly believe they were wrong and Snowball is a bad animal indeed after brainwashing Napoleon offered. What’s more, the Seven Commandments of Animalism had also been changed. Finally, the Animal Farm becomes quite different from what they hope it to be at the beginning.

From the novel; I expressively feel the great power of faith. With the faith of Animalism, they finally found their regime, and struggle the equal from humans. And because of the faith, Napoleon can still rule the wretched animals, even though Snowball has gone. In our daily life, faith is indispensable as well. Faith just as flame, guiding us and supporting us when we feel frustrated as well as every time we need power to keep going ahead. When the Animal Farm is in mess, the animals still believe in their faith and Animalism. As to us, this believing is needed. Sometimes we may think we are in a wrong road to our dream, or we lose heart of ourselves, considering we aren"t as well as respect, we need believe. A b faith just likes a protection, and we are protected by it from kinds of difficulties.

In the animal kingdom, both predators and prey species utilize one of two things to survive—stealth or speed. Both on land and beneath the sea, those who master either evasion or capture through these methods will thrive, living to reproduce and achieve the unspoken directive of their species. While stealth—through camouflage or evasion—is common, perhaps the most thrilling feature of many of the animals we find in the ocean are the fantastic speeds that can not only be achieved, but often maintained for long periods of time.Speed represents a tremendous expenditure, an investment of energy that must be replenished via consumed calories. Therefore, any observer should marvel not only at the existence of this trait, but also at the bounty of an ecosystem and the ability of individuals to draw their needs from that system. Their existence is a reflection of the fantastic diversity and abundance of our oceans. Here are ten of the fastest aquatic animals—both predator and prey.

动物世界里，不管是捕食者还是被捕食者，暗袭和速度是它们赖以生存的两大法宝。许多陆地和海洋生物正是通过这两项技能得以繁衍成长，维持在自然界中的生存地位。对于暗袭，大多数动物拥有独特的保护色和逃遁技巧，以此捕食或躲避天敌。然而，在海洋世界，失去遮蔽物和光线，速度才是生存王道。许多海洋生物爆发力惊人，不仅可以很快达到超高时速，更为赞叹的是凭借其惊人耐力能游行数小时。长时间竞速意味着巨大的体能消耗，需要通过摄入大量卡路里补充体力。因此，人们不仅会对这一特点感到惊奇，更会对它们身处生物系统底部却能以个体能力获得所需而惊叹不已。它们的存在就是海洋多样性及丰富性的最好体现。

Recently, our efforts to protect wild animals was questioned by the public,

because the news is keep reporting that more and more wild animals was killed by

human beings, especially the very precious one. Innocent animals was dead for

their meat, fur and tooth, it was just used to fill up human beings desire. In

my point of view, the wild animals were protected effectively still has a long

way to go.

Firstly, people should try harder to make a better place for animals. The

land where the wild animals live was deprived by human being. For hundreds

years, people cut the trees to make land for their living and farming, wild

animals homeland was took, they have no choice but run away. What is more,

human beings break the food link in nature; wild animals can not find enough

food to keep alive. There is no doubt that the destruction of nature has become

a big problem to kill wild animal, for instance, a polar bear was starved to

death because of the greenhouse effect, the ice was melt away, the seadog and

fish that polar bear like to eat are far away from them. For those reasons,

people should protect the environment first if they want to protect wild animals

effectively.

Second, no buying, no killing. Some rich people like to wear fur coat, they

treat it as a status symbol, especially for rich woman, they think animal fur is

beautiful and warm, they will never consider that the fur they wear for years is

the skin that animal wear for their whole life, and they knew how bloody when

people took the fur from animal but they choose to ignore it. If people do not

buy the fur and tooth, lots of wild animals will be survived.

In sum, wild animals are our friends, we should give back and protect their

homeland, and stop buying their body part, or our future generations will see

them in zoo and museum.

Cats are cute animals,they are very special as well.

It has pointy ears, round eyes,little claws,and short but soft fur.Cats like eating fish and mice.They like to keep themselves clean, they do that by licking their fur.Also they are nocturnal animals, they sleep in the daytime and do most of their movements at night.

We should love cat, because cats are our friends,too.

my favourite animal is the panda,is our"national treasure",bacause pandas nive,lovable and lively, it was very likr it. panda is an ancient animal, is a zoologist called "living fossile " long ago there were many pandas in china, panda bamoo living area has large flowers, dead,threatening the survival of giant pandas. The whole world is extremely concerned about the rare giant panda rescue and transfer work. due to the destruction of the natural balance, climate warming, fewer and fewer panda. Panda is one of endangered animals, now only found in China, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, people began to conserve this endangered species. Today, the number of pandas has increased, but there is still a long way to go. Care for animals, is to protect human, we should be animals as mans best friend, to care, to protect them. Protection of animals is a duty of each person, let us work together to protect the giant pandas, giving them a good home.

我最喜欢的动物是熊猫，是我们的“国宝”，因为熊猫尼夫，活泼可爱，它非常喜欢它。熊猫是一种古老的动物，是一个动物学家，被称为“活化石”，很久以前，在中国有许多熊猫，熊猫竹生活区有大花，死亡，威胁着大熊猫的生存。全世界都极为关注的罕见的大熊猫抢救和转移工作。由于自然平衡遭到破坏，气候变暖，大熊猫越来越少。大熊猫是一种濒危动物，现在只出现在中国，四川，陕西，甘肃，人们开始以保护这一濒危物种。今天，大熊猫的数量有所增加，但仍有很长的路要走。关爱动物，就是保护人类，我们应该动物是人类最好的朋友，关心，保护他们。保护动物是每个人的责任，让我们一起来保护大熊猫，给他们一个好的家庭。

My favourite animal is cat. Cats are quiet and polite. They always walk lordly. Cats are cute. They have soft fur. When I touch them, they look comfortable. Cats have big eyes. Some cats eyes are green, some are blue, and some are grey. Even some cats two eyes have different colour. Cats sound is pleasant to listen to. Their sound is soft too. Otherwise, cats can catch mice. They are humans friends. I love cats very much. Do you like cats?

我最喜欢的动物是猫。猫是安静和有礼貌的。他们总是走气派。猫很可爱。他们有柔软的毛皮。当我抚摸它们时，它们看起来很舒服。猫有大眼睛。有些猫的眼睛是绿色的，有些是蓝色的，有些是灰色的。就连猫的两只眼睛也有不同的颜se。猫的声音很好听。它们的声音也柔软。猫会抓老鼠。他们是人类的朋友。 我非常喜欢猫。你喜欢猫吗?

A triple bacon cheeseburger seems like a heart attack on a plate.

三层奶酪咸肉汉堡感觉吃完很容易让人突发心脏病。

So how can polar bears thrive on their version, seal blubber?

那么,北极熊是如何处理这些高热量食物的呢?

Turns out theyve stocked up on genes that let them clear fats from their blood.

结果显示它们储存在遗传基因里的信息使得它们能够清除血脂。

Thats according to a study in the journal Cell.

这是根据《细胞》杂志上的一篇研究得出的结论。

Polar bears are well adapted to life on the sea ice.

北极熊非常适应在浮冰上的生活。

Up to half their body weights fat, which gives them extra insulation and buoyancy, and provides them with a ready source of energy.

几乎占它们身重一半的脂肪足以使它们保暖并且维持体力，提供给它们一种易转化的能量。

But how can an animal so fat also be so fit?

但一种动物怎么能又胖又健康?

Researchers compared the genomes of polar bears with those of brown bears, and found that polar bears have accumulated genetic changes that boost their heart health and fat metabolism.

研究人员们通过比较北极熊和棕熊的基因，发现北极熊的基因组中积累了不少有利于心脏健康和脂肪代谢的遗传突变。

One gene in particular, called ApoB, helps move cholesterol out of the blood—where it causes problems in humans—and into cells.

特别是编码为载脂蛋白B的基因有助于清除血液中对人类有害的胆固醇转变成细胞代谢。

These genomic changes happened quickly, evolutionarily speaking.

这些遗传变化从进化的角度来讲发生的十分快。

Polar bears and brown bears diverged from a common ancestor less than half a million years ago.

北极熊和棕熊都来自于同一个祖先，它们是在大约50万年前左右开始向不同分支进化。

But if that seems super speedy, the ability to digest lactose didnt spread through human populations until we domesticated cows, just 10,000 years ago.

但是如果这种变化看上去十分快速的话，消化乳糖的酶逐渐进化到人类各个种群中也还是发生在大概1万年前我们可以驯化乳牛之后。

A moooving testament to the power of natural selection.

这是自然选择力量的证明。

When the Arctic Ocean freezes over in the autumn, polar bears set off in search of their favorite meals: fatty ringed seals and bearded seals. By the summer, the sea ice begins to melt and break apart. Deprived of access to the tasty seals, polar bears spend the summer fasting. At least, thats whats supposed to happen. As the planet warms, the warmer ice-free season is getting longer and longer. So whats a hungry bear to do?

Scientists once thought that polar bears might survive by supplementing their pinniped diet by turning to terrestrial foods like snow geese, their eggs and caribou.

"Weve had this debate in the literature about whether terrestrial foods are nutritionally relevant to polar bears during the on-land season when the ice has melted."

University of Alberta biologist Nick Pilfold.

"And weve known for a long time, going back to research in the early 70s, even going to back to early explorer logs, that polar bears will consume terrestrial based foods. But the debate was always whether those foods actually add up, energetically." In other words, do these substitutes provide enough nutrition to make up for the lost seals?

To find out, Pilfold and his colleagues estimated the weight lost each day by polar bears in the wilds of western Hudson Bay during the ice-free season, when they could ostensibly be chowing down on terrestrial foods. Then they compared that to the weight lost by bears that are temporarily held in Manitobas Polar Bear Alert Program.

While captive, the bears do not eat. They drop about one kilogram each day. But the wild bears, who had access to the Arctic snack bar, lost the same amount of weight each day. The results are in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.

"Which is really saying that the terrestrial foods do not have dense enough energy to offset the mass loss. So this idea that bears can just switch from eating sea ice–based food to land food and thats going to help supplement against longer ice-free seasons, that really doesnt show up in the data."

The problem is that polar bears evolved to rely on the marine diet.

"The food on land is protein and carbohydrate based, and the food the polar bears really focus on is fat. Fat is the name of the game for these bears; theyre highly adapted to absorbing that fat into their system and putting it onto their body as body mass, so they can fast on it later on. And the only thing thats going to provide them with that type of fat are marine mammals. And they can only access those marine mammals when theres sea ice."

Adult males can go eight months without food. But younger, sub-adult bears, which are no longer nursing and must hunt, cant last as long without sea ice. So as the Arctic warms, younger polar bears will disproportionately die out. Leaving the species survival in doubt.

北冰洋在秋季结冰以后，北极熊就会出发去寻求它们最喜欢的食物：富含脂肪的海豹和胡子海豹。海冰在夏季开始融化断裂。这使北极熊在夏季无法吃到美味的海豹，所以它们进入禁食期。至少，情况应该是这样。但是由于地球变暖，温暖的无冰季节越来越长。那饥饿的北极熊要怎么办?

科学家曾经认为，北极熊可能会转向陆地上的食物来补充它们对鳍足类动物饮食的需求，进而生存下去，这些陆地食物包括雪雁、雪雁蛋和北美驯鹿。

“文献中有过这类辩论，即在寒冷融化时陆地食物是否能满足北极熊的营养需求。”

尼克·皮尔福德是加拿大阿尔伯塔大学的生物学家。

“通过上世纪70年代初的研究，还有早期的探险者日志，我们很早以前就知道，北极熊会以陆地食物为食。但是辩论的焦点在于，这些食物是否能增加北极熊的能量。”换句话说，这些替代食物能否为北极熊提供足够的营养，弥补不能进食海豹带来的损失?

为了解开这个疑惑，皮尔福德及同事对西哈德逊湾荒野地区的北极熊在无冰季期间每天失掉的体重进行了估算，从表面上看，北极熊在这段时间食用了陆地食物。随后，他们将这一数据与通过马尼托巴北极熊预警计划暂时捕得的北极熊所失掉的体重进行了对比。

在被关期间，北极熊不吃东西。它们的体重每天大约下降1公斤。虽然野生北极熊能享用北极“小吃”，但是它们的体重每天也同样会下降1公斤。这一研究结果发表在《生理学和生化动物学》期刊上。

“显然结果表明，陆地食物不能为北极熊提供足以抵消大量损失的能量。所以，北极熊可以从食用海冰下面的食物转向食用陆地食物，并帮助它们对抗日益延长的无冰季这个观点，并没有在这项数据中得到证明。”

问题是，北极熊进化成了依靠海洋食物的动物。

“陆地食物以蛋白质和碳水化合物为基础，而北极熊需要的食物以脂肪为主。脂肪是这些熊真正需要的东西;它们高度适应的情况是，将脂肪吸收进它们的系统中，然后把这些脂肪放在身上以增加体重，这样它们之后就可以依靠这些脂肪来度过禁食期。唯一能提供给北极熊这种脂肪的就是海洋哺乳动物。但是它们只能在有海冰时食用到这些海洋哺乳动物。”

成年北极熊可以8个月不进食。但是小一些的未成年北极熊已经不再被哺育，它们必须要去猎食，可是它们不能在漫长的无冰季期间一直不进食。所以，随着北极地区变暖，较小的北极熊将会大批死亡。这使这些物种的生存成为问题。