Divdude, Your reasoning is right but your calculation is wrong.The half of 9.8 is 4.9 not 4.4. Slacdemic, Though there is no direct relation between physics and the color of bear, you need some knowledge of physics to solve this problem. It is only possible that a bear to fall 5 meter in 1 second if value of g( accleration due to gravity) is 10m/s^2. The value of g is larger at the poles. The larger value of g at the poles is not due only to differences in the radii of the earth, but that other factors are also responsible such as the rotation of the earth and the increase in the earth's density toward its center. For the incident to be true, it can not be other places on earth but poles where polar bear (white bear) are found.