Lets See If My Readers Are Smarter than the Average Bear

A bear walks south for one kilometer, then it walks west for one kilometer, then it walks north for one kilometer and ends up at the same point from which it started. What color was the bear?



The bear was white because it was a polar bear.

The only place on earth where a bear can go south, west and north equal distances and end up where it started is the North Pole.

The distance the bear travels actually does not make any difference -- the bear would be making a circle around the North Pole. East and West you travel along (latitudinal) parallels which are circles equidistant from the poles. North and South you travel along (longitudinal) meridians which are circles that cross both the north and the south poles.

In case you're wondering why the answer couldn't have been the South Pole, it's because there are no bears in Antarctica - only penguins.

Also, with regard to the North Pole, bears of other colors, e.g., grizzlies, Alaskan black bears, Russian brown bears, etc., never venture north of the continental land masses. Polar bears are not restricted by the boundaries of the land because they have partially webbed forepaws and are excellent swimmers. Their scientific name, Ursus maritimus, means "sea bear".

There is great concern that the habitat of polar bears will be destroyed if global warming continues at the same rate as it has during the last 25 years.