Polar wildlife: who lives at the ends of the Earth

Updated November 2026

The Arctic and Antarctic are home to animals that live nowhere else, and many of them depend on sea ice for hunting, resting or raising young. As the ice changes, some are declining fast: in April 2026 the IUCN announced that the emperor penguin and the Antarctic fur seal are now Endangered.

Reading conservation status

The IUCN Red List, run by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, sorts species into categories by extinction risk. From lowest to highest risk, the main ones are Least Concern, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered and Critically Endangered. The last three together are called “threatened.” Each listing has an assessment date, and some are many years old, so the year of each assessment is given below (statuses checked in November 2026).

Arctic animals

Polar bear

Polar bears live in 19 subpopulations around the Arctic, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service puts the total at about 26,000 bears as of 2023. They depend largely on sea ice, which they use as a platform to hunt seals; ringed seals are their main prey, with bearded seals second. The IUCN lists the polar bear as Vulnerable (assessed 2015), under a criterion based on a projected population decline linked to loss of habitat. The IUCN itself flags that assessment as needing an update.

Walrus

Walruses normally rest on floating sea ice over shallow feeding grounds. The ice keeps them safer from disturbance and predators and gives them access to the food below. As summer ice has retreated from the shallow feeding grounds of the Chukchi Sea, large groups now haul out on beaches instead, such as near Point Lay, Alaska. On land they startle easily and can stampede toward the water, and young animals can be trampled (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2020). The IUCN lists the walrus as Vulnerable (global assessment, 2016).

Ice seals

Ringed and harp seals rely on stable sea ice to give birth to their pups (NSIDC). The ringed seal is listed as Least Concern (2016), with an unknown population trend.

Arctic whales and the Arctic fox

Arctic whales include the narwhal, the beluga and the bowhead. All three are listed as Least Concern (narwhal 2017, beluga 2017, bowhead 2018), and the bowhead population is increasing. On land, the Arctic fox is Least Concern (2014) with a stable population.

Antarctic animals

Krill

Antarctic krill are small, shrimp-like animals, about 6 cm long, that eat mainly phytoplankton. With an estimated 400 million tonnes in the Southern Ocean, they feed, directly or indirectly, most of the larger animals there, including seals, whales, seabirds, fish and squid (Australian Antarctic Division). The IUCN lists them as Least Concern (2015). The IPCC expects their habitat to shift further south as the ocean warms. More in Polar oceans.

Emperor penguin

Emperor penguins depend on the sea ice around Antarctica. On April 9, 2026, the IUCN announced it was moving the species from Near Threatened to Endangered. Satellite images show a loss of about 10% of the population between 2009 and 2018, more than 20,000 adult birds, and models project the population will halve by the 2080s without sharp cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The main driver is early sea ice break-up and loss, which has hit record lows since 2016. When we checked in November 2026, the species page still showed the 2019 Near Threatened listing; the IUCN said the new assessment would appear there later in 2026.

Adélie penguin

The smaller Adélie penguin is listed as Least Concern (2020) with an increasing population trend, a reminder that not all polar species respond to change in the same way.

Seals

• Antarctic fur seal: Endangered (assessed February 2026, up from Least Concern). Its number of mature animals fell from about 2,187,000 in 1999 to about 944,000 in 2025. That is a drop of 2,187,000 − 944,000 = 1,243,000, or about 57%. Climate change pushes krill deeper and shrinks sea ice, and krill shortages at South Georgia have cut pup survival.
• Southern elephant seal: Vulnerable (assessed February 2026, up from Least Concern). Highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) has hit four of its five major subpopulations and killed more than 90% of newborn pups in some colonies.
• Leopard seal: Least Concern (assessed December 2025).

Whales of the Southern Ocean

Many whales feed on krill in the Southern Ocean. The blue whale is Endangered (2018), but its population trend is increasing. The humpback whale is Least Concern (2018), with an increasing population.

Why sea ice matters

The IPCC reports that ice-associated marine mammals and seabirds in polar regions have already lost habitat as sea ice shrinks, and that changes in their prey have affected how well they can feed. For the ice itself, see Polar ice.

• 26,000Estimated polar bears in 19 subpopulations (2023)
• ~10%Emperor penguin loss, 2009–2018
• 57%Decline in Antarctic fur seals, 1999–2025
• 400 million tAntarctic krill in the Southern Ocean

Check yourself

Sources

• Emperor penguin and Antarctic fur seal now Endangered due to climate change (April 9, 2026), IUCN
• Polar bear, IUCN Red List
• Walrus (global assessment), IUCN Red List
• Emperor penguin, IUCN Red List
• Antarctic fur seal, IUCN Red List
• Southern elephant seal, IUCN Red List
• Antarctic krill, IUCN Red List
• Blue whale, IUCN Red List
• Arctic fox, IUCN Red List
• Polar bear, US Fish and Wildlife Service
• Pacific walruses haul out near Point Lay, Alaska (August 5, 2020), US Fish and Wildlife Service
• Why sea ice matters, NSIDC
• Krill, Australian Antarctic Division
• Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere: Summary for Policymakers, IPCC (2019)