In more northern parts of its range, the male may den for short periods of time. Males and also females occasionally use their own previous den the following year. They are nursed for three to four months in the den before being taken outside by the mother. The cubs stay with their highly protective mother as long as two years. When the female mates again, the young are abandoned.
Sexual maturity occurs at three to four years for females and four to five years for males.
Diet Seals, fish, shellfish, seaweed, crabs, carcasses of stranded whales, lemmings. Zoo Diet Zoo meat mixture, fish, dog food, vitamins. Miscellaneous Hogle Zoo has a good breeding pair who have had one or two young every two years for the last six of eight years. There is a private den behind the public display area monitored by television for use by the keepers. The female enters the den in early winter, remaining there sleeping while her cubs are born and grow large enough for her to bring them out into the public area in the spring.