Reyn Norman, age 12, of Ft. Deposit, Alabama, for his question:

Do polar bears live at the South Pole?

The ice capped Antartic is a bleak and bitter region where only the hardiest creatures can survive. Colonies of penguins spend much of the year on its eternal glaciers, diving for food in the chilly seas. The South Polar ocean is rich in plankton and cold blooded fishes that come to feed upon it, An assortment of warm¬blooded seals are there to feed on the fishes, even when the icy surface provides them with only a few breathing holes. Sometimes great baleen whales visit the chilly seas to feed on the plankton and toothed whales arrive to feed on the fish and the seals. Flocks of birds fly overhead and visit the barren shores. But no bears of any sort make their homes near the South Pole.

The magnificent polar bear is a native of the Arctic region where he enjoys life on and off the shores around .the North Polar sea. He often watches for fish and seal food while floating on an ice floe and he has been seen swimming with powerful strokes 200 miles from land. The sturdy character thrives in the Arctic and no doubt he could survive in the Antarctic, even though it is colder. But for reasons unknown. his family have never taken up residence at the South Pole.