Explore the Top 11 Cold-Resistant Animals Worldwide

The Musk Ox lives in herds of 12-24 during winter and 8-20 in summer. In the warmer months, they inhabit moist areas like deep valleys, migrating to higher mountain regions in winter. Their diet includes Arctic willow, sedges, and moss beneath the snow. Bred for meat, milk, and fur, these majestic creatures are now under conservation efforts to maintain a stable population.

Snowy Owl, also known as White Owl, is a large owl with distinctive features such as a black beak, black claws, and yellow eyes. They lack the characteristic ear tufts of other owl species. The head and eyes are relatively small, with a length of about 52 - 71cm and a weight ranging from 1.6 - 3kg. This is one of the largest owl species, with females larger than males. Adult males have almost entirely white plumage, while females and juveniles have many black spots. Their thick white fur helps the Snowy Owl adapt well to the northern life near the North Pole. Additionally, their fur can change to brown to adapt to thawing weather.

Snowy Owls often nest on high mounds of earth or in rocky caves. They feed on lemmings and other small rodents. Snowy Owls are powerful birds, ready to attack any threat to their nests, including large animals like bears or foxes. They attack by diving from the air, distracting and driving away the intruders.

Polar Bear of the Arctic is a large carnivorous mammal primarily found in the icy regions around the Arctic Ocean. When fully grown, they weigh between 400 - 600kg, with some individuals exceeding 800kg. Adult males measure from 2.4 - 2.6m in length. Their fur is white, waterproof, and adapted to extreme cold with a thick layer of up to 10cm of fat, providing insulation even at temperatures as low as -40 degrees.

The habitat of the Polar Bear of the Arctic consists of ice floes forming the polar cap of the Earth. They are often seen on the edges of ice floes, near water channels, and places abundant with seals, their primary source of food. Polar Bears spend a considerable time traveling on the ice, avoiding fierce snowstorms by digging temporary shelters. Typically, only pregnant female bears hibernate. However, in colder and more challenging environments, all Arctic polar bears go into hibernation due to the scarcity of food during winter.

Penguins predominantly inhabit underwater areas in the Southern Hemisphere, concentrating in flat coastal regions or rocky cliffs. These conditions provide an advantage for them to evade human hunting and facilitate breeding.

They possess thick fur and a layer of fat to withstand the cold in this region. The weight varies depending on the species and can reach several tens of kilograms. Penguins often live in large colonies, numbering up to thousands. They have excellent hearing and adapted eyes for underwater observation and evasion of predators. However, on land, they have nearsightedness. Their sense of smell is not yet fully understood.

Most Penguins feed on krill, fish, squid, and other marine organisms they catch while swimming underwater. They spend about half their time on land and the remaining half beneath the vast oceans.

Snow Leopard is a cat species native to Central Asia, weighing around 75kg, with a long and balanced tail that aids in maintaining excellent balance. Additionally, the tail is used to cover their mouth and nose in freezing weather. Their large paws with ample fur serve as snowshoes. Snow Leopards have grayish-white fur with a pattern of rosettes on the sides, head, and neck.

Snow Leopards are omnivores, consuming whatever food they find, often displaying the strength to kill prey three times their size, such as ibex or various livestock.

Their flexible, agile bodies enable Snow Leopards to adapt well to the harsh, mountainous environment. They can travel over 40 km per day in search of food and, propelled by their powerful hind legs, can leap up to six times the length of their bodies. Snow Leopards are also considered an emblem in some Central Asian countries.

Caribou are mainly distributed in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. Their bodies are covered by fur that traps air, providing insulation from the surrounding environment. The air pockets in their fur help isolate their bodies from the cold. Additionally, the circulatory system of caribou aids in maintaining warm blood in their extremities by absorbing heat from the warm blood in their bodies.

Caribou undergo significant changes in color and size. Both males and females develop antlers, although in males, the antlers are usually larger. Some females, however, lack antlers entirely. Notably, male caribou shed their antlers in winter. Each year, herds of caribou migrate hundreds of kilometers northward in search of food. They have been domesticated since 2000 years ago.

Siberian Tiger, known as the ruler of the Taiga region, owes its excellent cold resistance to its thick and dense fur, surpassing other tiger species in adaptation to harsh weather.

Siberian Tigers are considered the largest subspecies of tigers. The typical weight of wild Siberian tigers is 180–306 kg for males and 100–167 kg for females. Their prey includes Manchurian wapiti, Siberian roe deer, sika deer, tufted deer, Siberian musk deer, Manchurian wapiti calves, and smaller animals such as rabbits, hares, pikas, and salmon.

Facing increasing hunting threats, this tiger species is on the brink of extinction, with only about 400 remaining individuals, mainly inhabiting the Taiga forests in Russia.

Eurasian Lynx is a wild cat species in the cat family, primarily found in Asia and Northern Europe. These animals usually have short tails, with spots on the underside of the neck resembling knots. They have large, thick-padded feet for walking in the snow, along with long fur on their faces. The color of their fur covering varies from light brown to gray, sometimes with dark brown spots, especially on the legs. Eurasian Lynx weighs from about 15 kg to around 30 kg.

Eurasian Lynx inhabits high-altitude forests with shrubs, grass, and dense moss. Although they hunt on the ground, they are skilled climbers and swimmers. Eurasian Lynx has refined hunting abilities, capable of bringing down prey much larger than themselves, such as deer. However, their typical diet includes birds, small mammals, fish, sheep, or goats.

North American River Otter is a species native to the North American continent, often found along rivers and coastlines in this region. They are protected and insulated by a thick, waterproof fur layer, enabling them to withstand cold temperatures effectively.

The main diet of the river otter includes fish and various aquatic creatures such as shrimp, crabs, frogs, salamanders, etc. They also have a high metabolic rate and energy expenditure with a wild pace; they need to consume food equivalent to 15% of their body weight every day. In water at 10 °C, a river otter needs to catch at least 100g of fish per hour; otherwise, it will not survive. Most of them hunt for prey for 3-5 hours each day, and if a mother is nursing, she needs to hunt for 8 hours a day.

North American River Otters have a habit of living in social groups. Nowadays, they have become extremely rare due to hunting, changes in their habitats, and illegal mercury use in gold mining along rivers.

A discovery published in the journal Nature Metabolism may explain how mammals survive for an extended period without activity in winter. To conduct the study, scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks monitored a group of Arctic ground squirrels in a laboratory for over two years.

While these rodents hibernated at near-freezing temperatures, the observation devices detected the conversion of free nitrogen by the animal's muscles into amino acids. Researchers suspect that these squirrels might utilize these amino acids to synthesize proteins to sustain their lung and kidney tissues and enhance bone strength.

The Arctic ground squirrel's hibernation period typically lasts for 8 months. During this time, they neither eat nor drink anything. While in hibernation, they take one breath per minute. Despite minimal activity for most of the year, the Arctic ground squirrel does not experience significant muscle loss or long-term cellular damage.

Black-Capped Chickadee is a bird species in the Paridae family, symbolizing several states in the United States. This bird has the ability to lower its body temperature during cold winter nights, enabling it to cope well with freezing conditions.

Black-Capped Chickadee is a small but robust bird, inhabiting open woodlands with a short and stout beak. They are adaptable species, with a mixed diet including seeds and insects. These birds are friendly towards humans and can approach to eat food from human hands.