One of the most powerful tricks a magician can master is the disappearance act. The magician doesn’t actually make something disappear; rather, he/she creates an illusion to trick the audience into thinking that something has disappeared into thin air. Every magician has their own techniques for tricking their audience’s eyes; similarly, in the animal kingdom creatures have developed unique camouflage techniques over thousands of years tricking the eyes of others into believing they are not there.
According to Darwin’s theory of evolution, animals have developed a customized technique to survive and proliferate, which has allowed them to change and in turn pass those traits on to the further generations. These adaptions have allowed them to avoid predators, capture food, reproduce and raise healthy children. The strong survive and thrive while the weak perish and do not pass on their less favorable genes. The advantage of camouflage is thought to be one favorable trait that has been passed on by natural selection.
Some of the clever ways animals use camouflage are: concealing coloration, disguise, disruptive coloration, and mimicry. Researchers suggest that animals resemble visual similarities based on their complex environment in order to blend in and use it as an important tool for survival against becoming potential prey (Merilaita, 2013).
Polar bears are one example of an animal that use concealing coloration camouflage. A polar bear has adapted this camouflage as a survival technique, not in defense, but to help its success rate when hunting.
UST Animal Behavior blog 