Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) do not live in the wild within Sweden’s mainland or territorial waters. Although Sweden is a Northern European nation with northern forests and a long coastline, the specific ecological requirements of the polar bear mean that the Swedish environment does not support a resident population. The species’ survival depends entirely on a unique habitat that is absent from the Swedish mainland.
Presence in Sweden’s Territory
The modern distribution of the polar bear is restricted to the circumpolar Arctic region, including countries like Canada, Greenland, Russia, and the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Polar bears are classified as marine mammals because they rely on sea ice as a platform for hunting seals. This dependence is why Sweden’s mainland coasts, bordering the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia, are not suitable habitats.
The sea ice along the Swedish coast is annual, less extensive, and does not sustain the dense ringed seal populations required for the bears’ survival. The Baltic Sea environment is geographically distinct from the high-Arctic regions where polar bears thrive. Fossil evidence shows that polar bears reached Scandinavia, including Sweden, approximately 15,000 to 11,000 years ago during the last Ice Age, but these historical occurrences do not indicate a current, stable population.
Clarifying the Arctic Connection
Confusion about polar bears in Sweden stems from its geographical proximity to the Norwegian territory of Svalbard. Svalbard is a remote archipelago situated far north of the Norwegian mainland, closer to the North Pole than to Sweden. This high-Arctic environment has extensive, multi-year sea ice and hosts a significant population of polar bears, estimated to be part of the Barents Sea population of roughly 3,000 animals.
The ecological conditions in Svalbard are drastically different from those in mainland Sweden, providing the necessary sea ice and prey base. Svalbard’s landmasses and surrounding waters are under Norwegian sovereignty, not Swedish, establishing a clear political and ecological boundary for the species’ range. This distinct Arctic habitat includes landfast ice and glacial fjords, allowing bears to successfully hunt and pregnant females to create maternity dens.
Sweden’s Native Large Bears
While polar bears are absent, Sweden is home to a robust population of the Brown Bear (Ursus arctos). The brown bear is the largest terrestrial predator in Europe, found primarily in the dense coniferous forests of central and northern Sweden. National monitoring estimates place the Swedish brown bear population at approximately 2,450 to 2,800 individuals.
These bears are omnivores, relying on a diverse diet that includes berries, roots, insects, and ungulates. This contrasts sharply with the polar bear’s specialized marine, seal-based diet. The brown bear’s habitat is the inland Scandinavian forest, far removed from the sea ice environments required by its polar cousin.