Composition : 91.67% gold, 4.1% silver
Mintage : 5,000

Matron of the ice

Immense...pristine...untamed... the polar bear personifies the land it calls home - Canada. The largest nonaquatic carnivore in the world, its strength and sheer size command respect- and with seemingly human behavior, Nanuk is highly revered by Inuit society. Indeed, the ability of this solitary animal to thrivein one of the harshest environments in the world fills one with awe and wonder. Even more surprising perhaps is the fact that the polar bear is classified as a marine mammal because its primary habit is the frozen sea ice and its survival depends almost exclusively on the seals that swim below it.

The ice dweller also dispels another commonnotion - that all bears hibernate during the winter. Only the female polar bear maintains this practice and she does so in order to nurse her young during their first four months of life. Usually two cubs ar born, each weighing less than a kilogram (1 to 1.5 lb). Full grown, a male polar bear can weigh up to 650 kg (1,500+ lb.) and will remain part of the Arctic landscape for some twenty years.

2 DOLLARS - PATH OF KNOWLEDGE - 2000 CANADIAN COINS is categorised COINS AND PAPER MONEY / 08- ROYAL CANADIAN MINT / 06- 22-KARAT GOLD and sold by l'Imaginaire, a store and specialised website.