Introduction to Wild Animals: Bears

Bears: are the common name for animals belonging to the order Carnivora and the family Ursidae. The typical bear is relatively docile, but when provoked or threatened, they are prone to anger and become very fierce in combat. Although most people consider bears to be dangerous animals, they are quite popular in circuses and zoos. They are distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, they exist except for parts of northern South America. Ursidae is a large family, which can be divided into five genera: panda genus, sloth bear genus, Spectacled bear genus, sun bear genus, and Ursus genus.

Ursid family members have a wide range of body sizes, from large to small. The typical ones include polar bears (540 kg), brown bears (up to 1000/100 kg), American black bears (about 450 kg), Asiatic black bears (about 150 kg), sloth bears (140 kg), spectacled bears (about 175 kg), and sun bears (about 45 kg). The gray bear is the fastest, with a speed of up to 48KM/H, and brown bears can reach a speed of 30KM/H on rugged mountain roads. Don't think that bears are slow, they are much faster than humans.

Distribution

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is the most widely distributed bear in the Ursidae family, with a distribution across the Eurasian continent and North America. However, the number of brown bears is not abundant. Different brown bears have differences in size and characteristics, with the largest Alaskan brown bears (Ursus arctos middendorffi) weighing up to 600-800 kg, while smaller brown bears weigh less than 100 kg. Alaskan brown bears were once considered as an independent species due to their large size. Some brown bears in Western China have different colors and sizes from other brown bears, and they are listed as the Moon Bear (Ursus pruinosus).

The only bear comparable to the Alaskan brown bear is the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), which lives near the Arctic ice and has strong swimming ability and can follow the ice away from the coast. Polar bears mainly feed on seals and are the most carnivorous bears. Polar bears and brown bears are the only two bears with trans-state distribution, while other bears have 4 kinds of distribution in Asia, 1 kind in North America, and 1 kind in South America. These bears are smaller than polar bears and most brown bears, except for the panda, and most of them are mostly black, with a crescent-shaped white patch on their chests, which is characteristic of Asian bears.

Among the Asian bears, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is the most famous. Its taxonomic status has been debated. Some people think it belongs to the Ursidae family, some think it belongs to the raccoon family, some think it and the little panda belong to the panda family, or establish a panda family by itself. Now research shows that pandas are closely related to bears and should be included in the Ursidae family. Giant pandas were an important component of the animal system in southern China in the past, but they are now limited in distribution and are representatives of endangered animals. Giant pandas have a single diet, mainly eating bamboo, and occasionally eat animal food. Because bamboo is relatively low in nutrition, the main time of giant pandas is spent on eating and resting, similar to tree shrews.

Another bear in Asia with a special diet is the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) in South Asia, which mainly feeds on insects. The Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus) in Southeast Asia is the smallest bear, with a slender body compared to other bears, excellent climbing skills, and likes to eat insects and fruits, and also hunts small animals and gnaws on them. Asian Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus) is a typical omnivorous bear, and plants constitute a large part of its food, but it sometimes kills larger animals.

The Asiatic black bear (Ursus americanus) is the most common bear in Asia, but it is still a rare species. The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is the most numerous bear species currently, widespread in North America, from Alaska to Mexico. American black bears are mostly black, but also have many other color types, including dark brown, reddish-brown, and even white.

The Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus) in South America is named because it has black eye rings like giant pandas. Spectacled bears live in the forests of the Andes Mountains in South America and also appear in wider areas, are good at climbing, and build nests on trees.

Ursus americanus

Tremarctos ornatus