Polar Bear Cubs Emerge From Their Den (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Join BBC Earth on Facebook for more incredible footage, photos and stories. Or follow them on twitter for the latest updates.

January and February is a fantastic time of year for new life all over the world! And activity in the Arctic is of no exception, even though the freezing temperatures may have you thinking differently. Surviving and succeeding in the most extreme elements, the Polar Bear is one of nature's great fighters. And it starts from day one.

Born in the darkness of December, within the mountainous areas of the Arctic circle, the first few weeks of these cubs' life would be fraught with danger...if it wasn't for one thing; the dedication of their mother.

After consuming huge amounts of food (almost doubling their body weight!) in preparation for hibernation, the female Polar Bear will first wait for the sea ice to break up. Then in the snow drifts near the coastal waters, will go about making her den that will be her resting place for the next three to four months.

Resting in their deep warm nesting place, the Polar Bear mother will usually give birth to a pair of cubs. Born blind and deaf, these vulnerable bears take several weeks to develop even the basic abilities of seeing, hearing, smelling and walking. However with the dens insulation and their mother's fur and fatty milk, they'll be off to a fighting start in no time. And when the time does come, how exciting it is!

With the cubs weighing about twenty-five pounds and with the right weather conditions, the polar bear mother will break the den. Heading out on her own initially, mum will enjoy the shining sun, open space and fresh snow that she has been without throughout this entire process. And then it's time for the cubs.

Although it's no easy ride! The first breaths of the cold arctic air and their inexperience of the snowy terrain means they won't be travelling far a few weeks yet. However mum will continue to nurse them, they will learn communication and socialization skills through play with each other, and then the journey begins down the great slopes...to find their first tasty meal.

Comments

[No stinking fans]

08:34 PM on 02/27/2011

Breaking news, polar bear cubs play in snow.
Who would have thought.
Groundbreaking journalism by the Huffington Post.

[nonnyj]

08:01 PM on 03/03/2011

I think it is sort of important to report on animals. We are loosing species to climate change and to report on them to tell the public how cute and how they live is vital right now. This is a great big world with lots of things going on and animals are very important too.

[amber15]

03:09 PM on 02/27/2011

I saw this movie. The end is sad. The mother lost one of the cubs and the father had to swim to far out to sea before finding food. When he eventually found an ice float with seals he was to exhausted to fight for his food and died.

[SecondTime]

12:44 PM on 02/27/2011

Polar bears are indeed impressive creatures, and it is good to know that they have been thriving over the past 30 years. Those who have posted comments here linking them to global warming have obviously not had the memo not to do that, since the success of the bears threatens to bring global warming alarmism into disrepute, and that would not do at all. The more people who laugh at the nonsense of AGW alarmism, the fewer grants for green causes, the less into the pension plans of corporations such as WWF and Greenpeace, and a better informed electorate who will not be taken in so easily next time. Remember we have the sustainability thing to pursue now - don't weaken our chances!

[riverhouse]

08:22 PM on 02/26/2011

I saw the polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada a few years ago and they are absolutely magnificent. I ask you all to support the efforts against global warming and against hunting so that these fabulous huge animals can thrive.

[PeaceNowAction]

06:16 PM on 02/25/2011

That was such a cute video of polar bears!!! Now lets help STOP GLOBAL WARMING so these polar bears will be alive in the future!

[dvncmdy]

04:21 PM on 02/25/2011

How cute is that!

[Max Shaw]

03:48 PM on 02/25/2011

Old footage, but still wonderful. The sounds polar bear cubs make is so cute!

[sunsetter]

02:36 PM on 02/25/2011

Male Polar Bears would gladly eat that little fellow as an appetizer.

The circle of life.

[LastAngryWoman]

06:20 AM on 02/26/2011

Wow. you'd be AWEsome on a date!

[Patchdee]

12:56 PM on 02/25/2011

cutest video of the week!

[think-it-over]

12:35 AM on 02/27/2011

Or of 2003.

[Evil Twin Rove]

12:49 PM on 02/25/2011

all Wild Animals rock!

[sold2aol]

10:06 AM on 02/25/2011

Those are some frigging cute polar bears.

[Tygartman]

10:00 AM on 02/25/2011

I thought there wasn't any snow left.

[sold2aol]

10:10 AM on 02/25/2011

That is hundred year old footage.

[Jeremyewilliams]

10:57 AM on 02/25/2011

You're clearly not smart. There's still snow, it's the glaciers that are melting. Simpleton much? Comments like yours are the reason people laugh at deniers. It's like the rainforests being cut down and forests completely removed, but then seeing monkeys in a jungle settings... THE RAINFORESTS ARE FINE THIS IS PROOF! Derp derp derp.

[Tygartman]

11:16 AM on 02/25/2011

Comments like yours are the reason why lefties are known to have no sense of humor.

[riverhouse]

08:23 PM on 02/26/2011

The more global warming, the more snow. It's the ice that global warming is destroying.

[MCJanes]

09:50 AM on 02/25/2011

Isn't this from Planet Earth, like, 5 years ago? If you haven't watched the whole series 8-10 times, you're really missing out.

[HockeyGirl74]

10:46 AM on 02/25/2011

I was thinking the same thing, I am pretty sure it is from that. And you have to watch the whole series multiple times, I agree with you. Great and amazing stuff.

[Jeremyewilliams]

10:58 AM on 02/25/2011

It is, it's old footage.