Polar bear vs Rafflesia

Ursus maritimus compared with Rafflesia arnoldii

Key Differences

• Polar bear is Vulnerable while Rafflesia is Endangered.
• Polar bear is carnivore while Rafflesia is parasite.
• Polar bear is 40.9x heavier than Rafflesia.
• Polar bear lives longer (25 years vs 5 years).

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Polar bear	Rafflesia
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Carnivora (Carnivorans)	Rosales (Roses & Allies)
Family	Ursidae (Bears)	Rosaceae (Rose Family)
Genus	Ursus (Bears)	Rosa (Roses)
Species	Ursus maritimus	Rafflesia arnoldii

Conservation Status

Polar bear

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~26.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Rafflesia

EN — Endangered

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Polar bear	Rafflesia
Diet	Carnivore	Parasite
Average Lifespan	25 years	5 years
Average Length	2.4 m	1.0 m
Average Weight	450.0 kg	11.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Polar bear

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, temperate coniferous forests, and boreal forests and taiga, among 4 distinct biome types within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found in Norway. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Rafflesia

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 5 distinct biome types spanning the Australasia and Indomalayan realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Indonesia and Malaysia. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Polar bear

The largest land carnivore on Earth, polar bears can exceed 700 kg and are found across Arctic sea ice from Canada to Russia. Highly specialized marine mammals that rely on sea ice to hunt ringed and bearded seals. Excellent swimmers capable of covering vast distances in open water. Listed as Vulnerable, with populations under severe pressure from rapid Arctic sea ice loss due to climate change.

Rafflesia

Rafflesia arnoldii produces the world's largest individual flower, up to 1 meter in diameter. It is a parasitic plant with no roots, stems, or leaves.