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Archive for the ‘Bears’ Category

North American Black Bear | Ursus americanus

08 Apr

The North American black bear is the most abundant bear in the world. They are highly adaptable animals that are known to live in a wide variety of habitats. Currently black bears exist in 95% of their former range and they are even returning to forested areas in or near major cities.

America Black Bear

America Black Bear

Habitat

  • Forested areas are the black bear’s primary habitat, but they can adapt to live within a variety of habitats.
  • Generally prefer forests with an under-story which provides both food and protection.
  • May live in low elevation swamps or high mountain meadows.
  • Adapt well to a variety of habitats as long as they have a good supply of food, water, shelter, and space to live in.
  • Each year humans move farther into black bear habitat, forcing bears to learn how to live in a new setting where natural food sources, dens, and water are harder to access.

Distribution

  • About 400,000 black bears live across North America.
  • Range from northern Mexico to the edge of the tree line in sub-arctic Canada.
  • In the United States, black bears live in 28 states from the southeast to the Appalachian Mountains, in New England, the lower MIssissippi valley, the upper Midwest, throughout the Rocky Mountains, the southwest and the West Coast.

Physical Characteristics

Color

  • Variable – range from black or brown to even bluish or white.
  • Habitat can dictate coat color.
  • Females can give birth to cubs that are different colors.
  • They keep warm and dry because of a layer of soft thick fur next to the skin called under-fur.
  • Guard fur on top of the under fur is much thicker and protects the bears from moisture, insect bites and stings; also acts as camouflage.
  • Because of the confusion in colors, it is best to call brown black bears exactly that.

Size

  • Fourth largest of the world’s eight bear species.
  • Adult males can weigh between 175 and 500 pounds (78-225 kg), both average 250-300 pounds (112-135 kg) in the fall.
  • Females range between 100 and 300 pounds (45-135 kg) and average 175 pounds (78 kg).
  • Two to three feet (60-91 cm) tall at the shoulders standing on all fours.
  • Five feet (152 cm) tall when standing upright.

Features

  • Often mistaken for brown bears; you cannot distinguish black bears from brown bears based on color alone. In some areas bears of the brown phase are called “brown bears,” but they are not.
  • Relatively long muzzle, small eyes, and large nostrils and large prominent ears.
  • When standing on all fours, rump is higher than front shoulders.
  • Often have dark colored, sharp, curved claws that do not always show in their tracks.
  • Claws are usually less than 2 inches in length.
  • The pure white phase of the black bear along the British Columbia coast is also called “the Spirit Bear.”

Diet

  • Omnivorous; diet varies by season and includes grasses, roots, forbs, berries and nuts to insects, fish, carrion, rodents, moose, deer fawns and elk calves.
  • When meat is difficult to find, diet will consist primarily of plant matter.
  • When food is scarce, may raid farms, garbage cans or dumps, or beehives, when people are careless.

Behavior

Daily Activity

  • Usually active in the morning and later in the evening.
  • Often rest in day beds made in dense vegetation within secluded forest areas to escape summer heat.
  • Very agile and can move quickly, up to 40 miles per hour, for short distances.
  • Excellent tree climbers, black bears can climb trees to escape predators and other bears and to feed on fruit and nuts.

Hibernation

  • Most sleep during cold months to conserve energy when food is scarce.
  • Not true hibernators because they sometimes wake up during the winter and may leave the den to roam.
  • Dens are often constructed on an insulated spot on the side of a hill.
  • May den in caves or large hollowed-out trees.
  • During summer and early fall, black bears eat all they can and store it in their body as fat.
  • This fat will provide them with nutrition needed to get  through the long winthemter (while “hibernating” in the den).

Reproduction

  • Mate in late spring or early summer.
  • Embryo does not start to grow until the female enters her den in the fall.
  • Cubs are born in January or February while the female is denned.
  • Cubs weigh about 1/2 pound at birth.
  • Litters range from one to four cubs (two cubs average).
  • By April or May, cubs are ready to leave their winter den.
  • Females usually build a day bed at the base of a tree, so that they are hidden.
  • At several months of age, cubs play together, climb trees and begin to feed themselves.
  • They stay close to their mother for another year or so.

People and North American Black Bears

  • They are not an aggressive species.
  • Black bears can be found living in forest habitats not far from cities like Washington D.C., Minneapolis, Seattle, and even New York City.
  • Generally they are shy and try to avoid contact with humans.
  • They can easily become habituated to eating human food, and may eventually stop foraging in the forest and become a nuisance to humans.
  • Relocating a problem bear is difficult since they return to their own area. Often, the only solution is to destroy the bear.
  • Each fall, people are allowed to hunt black bears in areas where they are abundant.
  • Limited hunting is encouraged in order to control the population of bears in certain areas.
  • May be poached to sell parts such as bear paws or the gall bladder to satisfy a large Traditional Chinese Medicine market.
  • Black bear habitat is shrinking as humans develop houses and resorts.
  • Educating people about co-existing with bears and other wildlife is critical for the long-term persistence of wild bear populations.

 
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Sun Bear | Helarctos malayanus

07 Apr

The sun bear, also known as the honey bear, is also the world’s smallest and least studied bear. They also have a reputation as one of the most ferocious animals in the rain forest. Because they are so rare, very little research has been done on sun bears.

Sun Bear

Sun Bear

Habitat

  • The sun bear thrives in the hot and humid lowland tropical  where it rains morrain forestse than 100 inches (254 cm) a year and temperatures stay constant around 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • They spend most of their life in trees where they can forage for a huge variety of fruits and nuts year-round.

Distribution

  • Today the sun bear exists in the forests throughout southeast Asia from northern Burma and Bangladesh, south and east across Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand and south to Malaysia and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
  • Because of large scale habitat destruction, it is likely that their range has been reduced in northern and western regions.

Physical Characteristics

Color

  • Sun bears have short, sleek and dense black fur.
  • Their thick coat may be hot in the tropical humidity, but it protects them from dirt, mud, and insects.

Size

  • Male bears weigh approximately 100 pounds (45 kg), the smallest bear species.

Features

  • Has a long tongue to extract honey from beehives.

Diet

  • Sun bears are omnivores and they will eat anything edible that they can find in the rain forest: from fruit and honey to snails, eggs, lizards, and rodents.
  • They are very good at skimming through the jungle to find any kinds of food they can get their paws on.
  • They particularly love honey and use their long, narrow tongue to collect it.

Behavior

Daily Activity

  • Sun bears are very good tree climbers because that is where they find most of their food.
  • They usually spend most of their day sleeping and sunbathing in nests that they make in trees.
  • After napping through the day, they spend much of their night foraging for food.

Hibernation

  • Sun bears do not hibernate because they live in such a warm climate and can remain active all year.

Reproduction

  • Breeding occurs at any time of the year and therefore cubs are born at any time of the year.
  • They usually give birth to a pair of cubs in a remote part of the forest. The cubs are tiny when they are born and their skin is nearly transparent.
  • They are raised on the ground, under branches, and heavy cover until they are strong enough to climb trees on their own.
  • They stay with their mother for at least a year in order to learn how to survive in the rain forest.
  • In the sun bear family, the father actually remains as part of the family group.

People and Sun Bears

  • Because there is so little that scientists really know about sun bears, it is difficult to implement any conservation plans.
  • It is known, however, that habitat loss, logging, hunting for the illegal trade in bear parts, and conflicts with humans are exerting significant impacts throughout the bears’ range and threaten its survival.
  • Logging not only immediately destroys the bears’ habitat, it also changes the climate and causes the surrounding forests to become more dry, which can also increase the frequency of forest fires.
  • Laws have been written to protect the sun bear, but they have not been enforced.
  • Because many people that live near the bears’ habitat are poor and starving, they are willing to capture and sell them as pets.

 
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Spectacled Bear | Tremarctos ornatus

07 Apr

Spectacled bears get their name from the light colored rings around their eyes that makes some of the bears look like they are wearing glasses. These shy bears are the only species that live in South America. Little is known about these rare bears because of a lack of research and the remoteness of the areas where they live.

Spectacled Bear

Spectacled Bear

Habitat

  • Spectacled bear habitat includes coastal and inland deserts, dry forests, rain forests, cloud forests, steppes, and plateaus.
  • They tend to inhabit areas that are isolated and inhospitable and avoid humans whenever they can.
  • Spectacled bears prefer the warm humid and foggy clouds that are above the rain forest floor at higher elevations.

Distribution

  • Spectacled bears live in South America on the heart of the Andes in Venezuela, Columbia, and the coastal foothills of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Physical Characteristics

Color

  • They have black to brown shaggy fur with distinct white or yellow markings on their face around their eyes.
  • Because they live in warm climates, their fur is thinner than that of North American bear species.

Size

  • Adult spectacled bears can weigh between 175 and 385 pounds (79-173 kg).
  • When standing on all fours, the average male measures about 30 inches (76 cm) tall at the shoulder and approximately 7.5 feet (228 cm) from nose to tail.
  • Females are slightly smaller.

Features

  • Spectacled bears have long claws which allow them to climb trees very well.
  • They also have large, flat molars so they can chew very tough plants that are found in the rain forest such as palms, cacti, and orchid bulbs.

Diet

  • Mostly they eat vegetation, but will eat meat when given the opportunity.
  • They love fruit and will spend days eating and sleeping in fruit trees.
  • They will also eat palms, cacti, and orchid bulbs.

Behavior

Daily Activity

  • Spectacled bears are generally nocturnal, feeding and traveling at dawn and dusk.
  • They often spend their days in tree nests which are constructed as a platform to sleep in.

Hibernation

  • Spectacled bears do not hibernate because they live in a warm climate.
  • Females will build nests for newborn cubs, but otherwise remain active throughout the year.

Reproduction

  • Spectacled bear females can give birth to cubs by the time they are 4 years old.
  • Usually they have 2 cubs in January, which is summer in South America.
  • The cubs are born helpless and blind, but by the time they are a month old they are able to travel around the forest with mother, often by riding on her back.

People and Spectacled Bears

  • Very few people have been fortunate enough to see a spectacled bear in the wild; most people have only heard of them in legends.
  • It is claimed the spectacled bear held a very important place ancient Incan religious beliefs.
  • Today, the spectacled bear is still respected by the native people, but their numbers are diminishing.
  • Population estimates are difficult to determine because spectacled bears are very elusive and live in remote places.
  • Scientists estimate that there are a minimum of 10,000 bears in the wild.
  • Deforestation, loss of habitat due to farming, and hunting and poaching are the biggest threats to the spectacled bears.
  • In 1975 the spectacled bear was listed on Appendix I on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which means that the international trade in the species was prohibited from that time forward. Unfortunately, enforcement has been lacking and rarely supported by local personnel. Therefore, the spectacled bear is continually threatened by the parts trade and human encroachment.

 
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Sloth Bear |Melursus ursinus

07 Apr

For a long time, sloth bears were confused with another tropical animal called a sloth. These shaggy, docile bears have a unique appearance and some interesting adaptations. Unlike their North American relatives, sloth bears live together in groups where the male is part of the cubs’ upbringing.

Sloth Bear

Sloth Bear

Habitat

  • Sloth bears live in warm, humid forests or in grasslands near the equator.
  • They can live in a wide variety of forest types from dry thorn forests in the north to wet tropical forests in the south.

Distribution

  • Sloth bears live in Southeast Asia primarily in the forest areas of Sri Lanka and India.
  • They have also been reported in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Burma.
  • Their populations are estimated to be between 1000 and 7000.

Physical Characteristics

Color

  • Sloth bears have long, shaggy black fur with a large white or yellow Y-shaped patch of hair on their chests.
  • They have particularly long hair around their necks, which looks like a mane. They have little fur on their bellies and the insides of their legs.

Size

  • Adult sloth bears usually weigh about 300 pounds, females being somewhat smaller than the males.
  • They are usually 3 feet high at the shoulder and about 6 feet long.

Features

  • Sloth bears have a long muzzle with lips that can be closed.
  • They have a hollowed-out bony palate and no front teeth so they can suck ants and termites out of their nests. People can sometimes actually hear the bear sucking up insects from 300 feet away.
  • They have white curved, blunt claws that are up to 3 inches (7 cm) long.
  • Their tails are approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long.

Diet

  • Sloth bears eat a wide variety of different plants, animals, and insects but prefer termites.
  • They will eat fruit, raid beehives for honey, scavenge from tiger kills, or eat cultivated crops such as sugarcane, corn, and yams.

Behavior

Daily Activity

  • They are mostly nocturnal, feeding and traveling by night and sleeping in the day.
  • They are excellent tree climbers and are often seen hanging from a tree limb like a sloth.
  • Unlike other bear species, they seem to enjoy the company of other sloth bears.

Hibernation

  • Sloth bears do not hibernate.
  • During monsoon season they may head for caves or other retreats where they become lethargic and wait out the rains.

Reproduction

  • Sloth bears mate year-round.
  • Most cubs are born in December or January in a nest that the mother builds in a cave or under some rocks.
  • Usually two or three cubs are born to a mother. They are born blind and helpless.
  • By one month sloth bear cubs are able to travel through the forest with their parents.
  • The cubs sometimes ride on their mothers’ back by holding onto her shaggy coat.
  • They stay with their mothers for 2 to 3 years or until they reach approximately 50 pounds (22 kg), when they begin to travel on their own.

People and Sloth Bears

Historically:

  • Due to increasing human population and encroachment for housing and farming, sloth bears and their habitat are disappearing.
  • Logging and other resource extraction are also having serious impacts.
  • Sloth bears live in a part of the world where people are struggling to make a living, so wildlife conservation is not considered to be a top priority.
  • Fortunately, in India conservation efforts to save the Bengal tiger have also helped to conserve sloth bears and their habitat.

 
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Polar Bear | Ursus maritimus

07 Apr

Polar bears or “sea bears” are among the largest members of the bear family. They live at the top of the world in the Arctic Circle. Current populations are under threat because of over-hunting, poaching, pollution, global warming, and increasing oil and gas drilling.

Polar Bear

Polar Bear

Habitat

  • Polar bears live in the Arctic Circle, including the North Pole and northern parts of Europe, Asia, and North America.
  • Arctic extremes include temperatures that range from -80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and light that ranges from almost total darkness in the winter to almost constant daylight in the summer. To deal with these extremes the polar bear must be fairly adaptable.

Distribution

  • There are approximately 35,000 to 40,000 in the world.
  • The largest populations live in Canada, Greenland, Siberia, and Alaska. Smaller populations also live in Norway.

Physical Characteristics

Color

  • Polar bear fur varies in color from pure white to a yellowish hue.
  • Their outer fur called ‘guard hair’ is actually clear and hollow (like a tiny glass tube), which allows polar bears to trap the sun’s heat and light. The guard-hairs are hard, smooth and shed water.
  • They also have a dense layer of under-fur that traps a layer of air next to the skin.
  • The fur layers actually keep the skin dry even when the bears swim in icy water.
  • Their skin is black to absorb heat from the sun. Under their skin they also have a thick layer of fat to keep warm.

Size

  • Polar bears are one of the largest land predators in the world.
  • They can reach 4 feet tall (122 cm) or more at the shoulder.
  • When they stand up on their hind legs they may be over 10 feet (305 cm) tall.
  • Male polar bears weigh between 800 and 1600 pounds (360-720 kg), while females usually weigh between 400 and 800 pounds (180-360 kg).
  • The largest recorded polar bear was a male that was over 12 feet (365 cm) tall and weighed over 2200 pounds (990 kg)!

Features

  • Polar bears have a large body with a long neck and a proportionately smaller head than other bears.
  • They have powerful, well-developed muscles in their hind legs and neck.
  • Their massive forepaws are webbed for swimming.
  • The soles of their feet are almost completely covered in dense fur to insulate them from cold.
  • The parts of their feet that are not covered with fur are rough like sandpaper to prevent their slipping on ice.
  • They have a short tail and small ears.

Diet

  • Polar bears are excellent hunters and prefer ringed seals, although they eat a variety of food.
  • The bears are adept at catching and killing the seals, which can weigh up to 150 pounds (67 kg).
  • They often eat only the skin and the fat and leave the rest of the meat for scavengers.
  • During the summer, the bears will eat seaweed (kelp) and range inland in search of alternative foods such as berries and grass.
  • They do not eat fish. Most fish in the Arctic Ocean are very deep and polar bears are not deep sea divers.
  • Usually polar bears kill a seal every five or six days.
  • Polar bears can go for weeks without eating because they have huge stomachs and can eat up to 150 pounds (67 kg) of food at one sitting.

Behavior

Daily Activity

  • Polar bears can range over 20,000 square miles.
  • They generally stay close to shore, but have been sighted up to 100 miles inland.
  • They spend a lot of time in water to catch food or escape danger.
  • They are excellent swimmers and have been recorded more than 100 miles from the nearest shore in the water.
  • They use their enormous webbed front paws as paddles and hind feet as rudders.

Hibernation

  • Usually only pregnant females hibernate in winter. They use ice dens, similar to igloos, that they construct as temporary shelters.
  • Most polar bears do not den, but enter a sort of ‘walking hibernation’ where they remain active, but rely on stored fat for energy.
  • Sometimes they dig summer dens in the tundra or along coastal bluffs to escape summer heat and insects.

Reproduction

  • Female polar bears start reproducing when they are between 3 and 5 years old.
  • They usually mate in the late spring and give birth to two cubs in late December or early January.
  • Like other North American species of bears, the embryo does not implant and begin to grow until the female enters the den in the late fall.
  • When cubs are born they weigh only about two pounds each and are not much bigger than a rat. They are born without the ability to see or hear and have no hair.
  • Fortunately, their mother keeps them warm and nourished until they are able to generate more of their own body heat.
  • By April, the cubs usually weigh about 25 pounds (11 kg).
  • They stay with their mothers for about three years to learn what they need about survival.
  • The females are very protective of their young due to predatory males and other threats.

People and Polar Bears

Historically:

  • For thousands of years, Inuit people have lived with polar bears and occasionally killed them for food or clothing.
  • The Inuit never over-hunted the animals because it was too dangerous and hunting weapons were primitive.
  • More recently, polar bears have been sought after by trophy hunters around the world and therefore have been over-hunted.
  • By the late 1970’s scientists recognized that polar bear populations were too low and the bears were added to the endangered species list.
  • Eventually the over-hunting was brought under control by the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears and Their Habitat in 1975.
  • Polar bear numbers are growing.Currently:
  • The biggest threat to polar bears is the impact of humans on their habitat.
  • Even though the arctic is generally inhospitable to humans, oil and gas companies are very interested in this region.
  • Oil and gas extraction can be very damaging to arctic ecosystems including the polar bears.
  • There is still a lot to learn about the impacts of human expansion and encroachment, increasing tourism, and global warming on the polar bears.

 
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Panda Bear | Ailuropoda melanoluca

07 Apr

Is the giant panda more like a bear or a raccoon? They certainly look bearish, but they have a few unusual features which led people to believe they were not a bear. After almost a century of debate, scientists were finally able to test the genes from pandas and determine that they are actually a species of bear. Pandas are the rarest of bears. They are found in a wilderness area in China that continues to disappear due to human encroachment.

Panda Bear

Panda Bear

Habitat

  • Prefer to live in cold, damp coniferous forests between 4000 and 11,000 feet high in elevation.
  • Require dense bamboo stands for food and cover.

Distribution

  • Today pandas exist in only six small areas along the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau.
  • Most of the bears that remain in the wild live in a chain of fourteen reserves which were established by the Chinese government.
  • Today, it is estimated that only 700 pandas remain in the wild.
  • There are another 200 of the bears in zoos (mostly in China).

Physical Characteristics

Color

  • Pandas are the most distinctively marked of all bears. Their basic coloring is white with black ears, eye patches, legs, feet, chest, and shoulders
  • In the wild their coloring can look more red or brown than black.
  • Pandas have a short tail which is sometimes black.
  • Their fur is thick with coarse outer hairs and dense woolly under-fur.

Size

  • Adult pandas are between 51/2 and 6 feet (168-182 cm) long.
  • They may weigh over 200 pounds (90 kg).

Features

  • Pandas look a lot like other bears in terms of general shape and body structure.
  • Because they chew tough bamboo stalks for nourishment, they have highly developed muscles around their jaw and large crushing molars. This makes their heads very round in appearance.
  • Panda forepaws are very flexible and have an enlarged wrist bone that acts as a unique ’sixth digit,’ which works sort of like a human thumb.
  • Pandas do not have heel pads on their hind feet like other bears, but they can still move around the dense forest silently and easily.
  • Pandas also have an extremely thick esophagus so that they can swallow the large splinters of bamboo.

Diet

  • They have a very specific diet consisting almost entirely of leaves, stems, and shoots of various bamboo species.
  • They spend between 10 and 12 hours eating bamboo every day.
  • An adult can consume between 26 and 33 pounds (11-14 kg) per day.
  • Although they are too slow to catch most animals, they have been known to eat meat when the opportunity arises.

Behavior

Daily Activity

  • Individual pandas may share the same ranges, but they try to avoid each other and spend most of their time alone.
  • When they are not eating they are usually resting.
  • Most active during dawn and in the early evening.

Hibernation

  • On a diet of bamboo, it is impossible for panda bears to accumulate enough fat to sleep through the winter.
  • Instead of hibernating in higher, cooler climates the bears go down to lower elevations with warmer weather.

Reproduction

  • Pandas reproduce very slowly and infant mortality is high.
  • Females cannot reproduce until they are about 5 – 7 years old.
  • Pandas mate in the spring and the mother usually gives birth to two cubs in the early fall, but often she abandons one and lets it die.
  • Newborn pandas are tiny, only about a quarter of a pound.
  • Cubs usually stay with their mothers until they are a year and a half old.

People and Panda Bears

  • The giant panda is considered to be China’s national treasure and has become a symbol of conservation.
  • Unfortunately, it has also become an endangered species and is severely threatened due to habitat loss and poaching.
  • The people of China have been cutting down bamboo forests for houses and farming.
  • When bamboo becomes scarce, pandas have nowhere to go for a new supply and their habitat becomes too small for them to survive.
  • In order to save the giant panda, millions of dollars are needed to establish wildlife reserves, relocate people currently living within the reserves, educate the public about wildlife conservation, stop poachers, and plant bamboo.
  • Fortunately, a lot of people around the world like pandas and are concerned about their future. Educating people world-wide about the giant panda’s possible extinction has begun to pay off and many realize that one of their favorite zoo animals may not be here for their grandchildren to enjoy unless they do something.

 
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Brown Bear | Ursus arctos

07 Apr

The brown bear is a wide ranging animal that requires vast tracts of wild, road-less land. Accordingly, this species of bear is considered to be an enduring symbol of true wilderness in North America.

Mama bear & cub.

Mama bear & cub.

Brown bears have been called the bear with too many names because of their wide variety of sizes and colors. The Kodiak, grizzly, and Russian brown are all the same species. Brown bears that live in interior Alaska or in the lower 48 states are often referred to as grizzlies or the grizzly-brown bear. Today the grizzly bear in the lower 48 is in low number after being destroyed in 98% of its former range. Roads, ranching, over hunting, and increasing human encroachments, could inevitably eliminate the species.

Habitat

  • Found in a variety of habitats, but prefer wilderness regions containing river valleys, mountain forests, and open meadows.
  • Home ranges are among the largest of all land mammals: up to 800 – 1000 square miles, but in good habitat some home ranges may be as small as 10 – 24 square miles.
  • The coastal Alaskan brown bears fish for extensive periods at the mouths of salmon streams.

Distribution

  • Widest world distribution of any bear; found in northwestern North America and Eastern and Western Eurasia.
  • As many as 60,000 grizzlies once occupied the lower 48 states.
  • Today, fewer than 1200 grizzlies survive in protected parks and wilderness areas within the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.
  • Ursus arctos was listed in 1975 as threatened in the lower 48 states.
  • In western Canada, there are still significant populations of grizzlies, but Alberta, Canada has approximately 750 of the bears, a mere shadow of the 6000 which once roamed that province.

Physical Characteristics

Color

  • Vary in color from blonde to black; most often they are medium brown with light tipped fur on their head and upper body.
  • Coat color may change with the seasons.
  • Thick coats composed of both guard hairs and under-fur which keeps them warm in the winter.
  • In summer they shed a lot of under fur and look shaggy; the silver hair-tips give them a grizzled look, hence the name…. grizzly bear.

Size

  • Gender and nutrition determines the size of brown bears.
  • Average weight of a male grizzly is 550 pounds (247 kg) and 350 pounds (157 kg) for females.
  • Brown bears of coastal Alaska may weigh over 1000 pounds (450 kg).
  • Typically 3 – 4 feet (91 – 122 cm) at the shoulder on all fours, and 6 – 7 feet (183 – 213 cm) tall when standing upright.

Features

  • Distinguishing features are a wide, massive head, dished face with long snout, and a shoulder hump. The hump is a thick wad of fat and muscle.
  • Round, small ears and distinct cream colored, slightly curved claws that are 2 – 4 inches (5-10 cm) or more in length.

Diet

  • Brown bears are omnivorous, opportunistic feeders which means they eat both plants and animals.
  • Their diet varies according to the season and habitat but includes everything from grasses, roots, berries, and nuts to insects, fish and mammals including rodents, deer, elk, and moose. Grizzlies will eat on carcasses as well as kill living animals.

Behavior

Daily Activity

  • Most brown bears are active during dusk and dawn, although they can be active any time of the day, especially in late summer and fall.
  • They tend to rest in day beds which they make in dense vegetation within the forest in order to escape the heat.
  • Brown bears are powerful diggers. They use their claws to find roots, bulbs and rodents, as well as to make winter dens on steep mountain slopes.
  • Most brown bears spend their time alone except when breeding or raising cubs.

Hibernation

  • Brown bears are not true hibernators, but they slow down their metabolism and sleep through most of the winter in order to save energy when there is little food available outside for them to eat.
  • These bears usually sleep in remote locations where they den.
  • They are able to sleep through the winter by living on reserves of fat stored on their bodies during the summer and fall.

Reproduction

  • Brown bears mate in early summer, but the embryo (blastocyst) does not implant and start to grow until the mother enters the den in late fall.
  • The cubs are born in January or February while the mother is sleeping.
  • They usually weigh about one pound at birth and their litters range between one and four, with two on average.
  • The cubs are born blind and helpless, but by drinking their mother’s rich milk they gain weight quickly.
  • Usually by late April or early May the cubs are ready to leave the den and explore with their mothers.
  • Because of predatory males and other threats, mother bears are renowned for their ferocity when defending their young.
  • Cubs usually stay with their mothers until they are 2 – 3 years old.

People and Brown Bears

  • People have been fearful of brown bears ever since people began exploring bear habitat. Many brown bears have been killed because of this fear, while others have been killed for food and the fur trade.
  • Today most brown bears only survive in protected areas.
  • Because grizzlies are considered a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, wildlife managers are trying to actively protect grizzly populations in the lower 48 states and their critical habitat. (A threatened species is one that is likely to become endangered if protection measures are not implemented).
  • Hopefully, with careful management and a solid recovery plan, grizzly populations will increase and will no longer need Endangered Species Act protection.
  • For adequate recovery humans need to stop harassing, pursuing, hunting, and killing grizzly bears. Also, their habitat needs much better protection from human encroachment.
  • People sometimes leave garbage and food in places where bears can easily find it. Once corrupted with food scraps, or even food containers or wrappers, bears can quickly develop a taste for garbage and then go looking for it.
  • When a bear is habituated to garbage they get into trouble because they scare and anger people with the damage they cause to property and the danger they represent. When a bear becomes a problem it may be relocated, but it often continues to cause problems and is killed.
  • Grizzlies are an important top level carnivore in the ecosystem and they are animals that can teach us a lot about living responsibly with wildlife and respecting the wilderness and habitat where they make their homes.

 
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Asiatic Black Bear | Selenarctos thibetanus

07 Apr

The Asiatic black bear’s scientific name means “moon bear of Tibet” because of the large, white crescent-shaped mark appearing on its chest. These medium sized bears are highly adaptable forest animals. They spend most of their time in trees, avoiding predators and humans.

Asiatic Black Bear, the cub

Asiatic Black Bear, the cub

Habitat

  • Live in forests – primarily in hilly or mountainous areas from the base of coastal foothills to approximately 13,000 feet.
  • During the summer, they most often are found at higher elevations. They stay at or descend to lower elevations during winter.

Distribution

  • Live in Iran, Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, east through the Himalayas, south to Bangladesh and Laos, and north through the Tibetan Plateau.
  • Populations may also be found on Taiwan and on the Japanese Islands of Honshu and Shikoku. This population is called the Japanese black bear.

Physical Characteristics

Color

  • Jet-black fur with a brown/tan muzzle and a whitish chin.
  • Hair around neck and shoulders is thick and long with a mane-like appearance.
  • Bears found in higher altitudes of the northern regions have a thicker coat.

Size

  • Medium sized bears, weighing 200-225 pounds (90-101 kg).
  • Large males can weigh over 400 pounds (180 kg), although this is rare.
  • Usually between 55-65 inches (140-165 cm) long.

Features

  • Ears are large and set far apart on their large, round heads.
  • Short, strong claws used for climbing trees, opening termite mounds and peeling bark to eat.

Diet

  • Omnivorous; eat termites, beetle larvae, honey, fruits, berries, and carrion.
  • Sometimes prey on goats, sheep, and cattle.
  • Peel bark from trees to eat the exposed sapwood (often results in the death of valuable timber trees).

Behavior

Daily Activity

  • Nocturnal, often sleeping all day in a cave or hollow tree.
  • Come out at dusk to look for food.
  • Generally sit in the high fork of a tree to access their favorite foods. Where they sit is called a “bear’s nest.”
  • The “bears’ nests” look much like birds’ nests and can be found over 60 feet (18 m) high in cherry, beech, oak, or dogwood trees.

Hibernation

  • Some Asian black bears hibernate while others remain active all year, depending on habitat and how cold it gets.
  • In colder northern regions, most den from November to March in hollow logs.
  • Bears in southern parts of their range may sleep for short periods of time or descend to a lower elevation to find food.

Reproduction

  • Usually mate in the spring or autumn, depending on location.
  • Like North American black bears, Asiatic black bears delay implantation of the embryo until conditions are right for giving birth.
  • Usually two cubs in winter or early spring.
  • At birth, cubs weigh only about 1/2 pound each.
  • At one month, cubs begin to follow their mother as she finds food.
  • Usually cubs remain with the mother for two years.

People and Asiatic Black Bears

  • Feared by humans because they have been known to kill livestock and attack people.
  • Legal protection has been difficult to establish (some governments encourage trapping of bears).
  • Chinese use bear parts (meat, gall bladders and bones) for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
  • Bears may also be captured as cubs and trained to ride bicycles and dance.
  • Currently, serious conservation efforts are unlikely because local people are so afraid of bears.
  • If the present rate of hunting continues, these bears may become extinct.

 
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Posted in Asiatic Black Bear