🦈 Bull shark vs Polar bear 🐻❄️
The bull shark is about one and a half times as long as the polar bear. The polar bear weighs about 4 times as much as the bull shark.
Getting the animals ready…
| Row | 🦈 Bull shark | 🐻❄️ Polar bear |
|---|---|---|
| Size The bull shark is about one and a half times as long as the polar bear. | 7.5 to 9.3 ft2.3 to 2.8 m1 | 4.9 ft1.5 m2 |
| Top speed Neither has a checked number yet. | no checked number yet | no checked number yet |
| Weight The polar bear weighs about 4 times as much as the bull shark. | 209 to 245 lb95 to 111 kg1 | 399 to 1,450 lb181 to 658 kg2 |
| Lives The bull shark lives a bit longer than the polar bear. | 32 years32 years1 | 25 years25 years2 |
| Eats The bull shark eats fish; the polar bear eats meat. | mostly fish such as catfish and stingrays, and also crabs | mostly seals, caught at holes in the sea ice |
| Lives in They can live in the same kind of place. | warm, shallow coastal seas, and also rivers and lakes | the Arctic, on the sea ice around the North Pole |
Which one? Bull shark or polar bear
🏁 Who would win the race?
We don't have a checked top speed for the bull shark or the polar bear yet, so there is no race.
We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. A race is the only fair contest: who reaches the tree first, by top speed. Our face-off books compare real numbers, and nobody gets hurt.
10 things to know about Bull shark vs Polar bear
- The bull shark: A sturdy shark that can swim in salt water and in fresh water.
- The polar bear: The biggest bear, at home on the frozen Arctic sea ice.
- They are different kinds of animal. The bull shark is a fish, so it breathes with gills; the polar bear is a mammal, so it breathes air with lungs and feeds its babies milk.
- The bull shark is about one and a half times as long as the polar bear: 1 against 2.
- The polar bear weighs about 4 times as much as the bull shark. That is 1 for the bull shark and 2 for the polar bear.
- The bull shark lives a bit longer than the polar bear. Usual lifespans: 1 for the bull shark and 2 for the polar bear.
- The bull shark eats mostly fish such as catfish and stingrays, and also crabs. The polar bear eats mostly seals, caught at holes in the sea ice.
- The bull shark lives in warm, shallow coastal seas, and also rivers and lakes. The polar bear lives in the Arctic, on the sea ice around the North Pole. They can live in the same kind of place.
- The bull shark: needs help (Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List). 3
- The polar bear: needs help (Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List). 4
Wow facts
🦈 Bull shark
- A bull shark can swim in salt water and in fresh water.
- It is the only shark that can stay in fresh water for a long time.
- It eats mostly fish such as catfish and stingrays.
🐻❄️ Polar bear
- Under its white-looking fur, a polar bear's skin is black.
- Each hair is clear and hollow, not white.
- Its huge paws work like paddles and snowshoes.
Questions kids ask about Bull shark and Polar bear
Which is bigger, bull shark or polar bear?
The bull shark is about one and a half times as long as the polar bear: 1 against 2.
Which is heavier, bull shark or polar bear?
The polar bear weighs about 4 times as much as the bull shark. That is 1 for the bull shark and 2 for the polar bear.
Which lives longer, bull shark or polar bear?
The bull shark lives a bit longer than the polar bear. Usual lifespans: 1 for the bull shark and 2 for the polar bear.
What do bull shark and polar bear eat?
The bull shark eats mostly fish such as catfish and stingrays, and also crabs. The polar bear eats mostly seals, caught at holes in the sea ice.
Where do bull shark and polar bear live?
The bull shark lives in warm, shallow coastal seas, and also rivers and lakes. The polar bear lives in the Arctic, on the sea ice around the North Pole. They can live in the same kind of place.
Do bull sharks eat polar bears?
The bull shark eats mostly fish such as catfish and stingrays, and also crabs. Polar bears are not in that list, which comes from its page.
Do polar bears eat bull sharks?
The polar bear eats mostly seals, caught at holes in the sea ice. Bull sharks are not in that list, which comes from its page. And the bull shark is about one and a half times as long as the polar bear.
Who would win, bull shark or polar bear?
We never show fights, because a fight is not a fair way to compare animals. They can share the same kind of place, and real animals mostly keep out of each other's way. What we can compare is how big, how heavy, how fast, how long they live and what they eat, as above.
📤 Share this pair
The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/bull-shark-vs-polar-bear
Where these numbers come from
- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web: Carcharhinus leucas (bull shark), checked 10 November 2026.
- National Park Service, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 30 October 2026.