Sloth Bear

True Wild Life | Sloth Bear |  The Sloth Bear also known as the Labiated Bear, is a nocturnal insectivorous species of bear found wild within the Indian subcontinent. The sloth bear evolved from ancestral Brown Bears during the Pleistocene and shares features found in insect-eating mammals through convergent evolution. The population isolated in Sri Lanka is considered as a subspecies. Its favourite food is primarily termites and other insects which it snorts and sucks out of termite hills on the ground with a vacuum-cleaner sounding roar that can be heard several hundred yards away.

Using its narrow tongue and long lower lip, which it can extend far beyond its nose, the bear has no difficulty scooping up the tiny morsels. The bear has special adaptations for feeding on termites. It has gap between its front teeth which allows it to suck in the insects, and also the top of its mouth is hollowed and tube-like. The Sloth Bear also eats different insects such as ants and bees, and it also includes fruits, blooms and honey in its menu.

The Sloth Bear has a coarse, shaggy ebony pelt, a white V-shaped mark on its chest and has a protruding lower lip. After mating, there is a period of about 6 to 7 months before the young are born. Generally they breed in June and July and cubs are born from November to January. In South Sri Lanka there appears to be less breeding convergence and cubs may be born at any time of the year. They reach a length from 150 to 190 centimetres. Females reach a weight from 55 to 95 kilograms, while males are clearly heavier and between 80 and 140 kilograms in weight. Although Sloth Bears are rather shy animals, sometimes they are considered as aggressive as other breeds of bear. The total world population of the Sloth Bears is estimated at approximately 7,000 to 10,000 animals, which means that the IUCN lists it as an endangered species .

Sun Bear

True Wild Life | Sun Bear | This small species of bear known as the sun bear, is found in the tropical jungles of Malaysia and parts of Indonesia. In the Malay language, their name for the sun bear translates to honey bear, due to the golden yellow markings found on the sun bears chest. The sun bear is the smallest surviving species of bear with the average adult sun bear measuring around 1 meter tall! The sun bear, like other species of bear, has fairly poor sight and must therefore rely on its excellent sense of smell in order to hunt for food. The sun bear generally feeds on small reptiles, mammals and birds, eggs, young palm shoots and fruit.

The sun bear has no real natural predators, but have been known to be occasionally hunted by a stray tiger or a large reticulated python. The biggest hunter of the sun bear is the human, who have often killed the bears in fear of being hunted themselves. Today, the sun bear is an endangered species with very few individual bears left in the wild. This is thought to be due to poaching of the sun bear and constant destruction of the environment which the sun bear inhabits.

Unlike most other species of bear, the fur of the sun bear is short and sleek rather than being thick and long. Many believe that this adaptation is due to the fact that there are few mountainous regions within the sun bears natural habitat of Malaysia, meaning the sun bear has naturally adapted to living in such hot and tropical climates.

The sun bear, although small, has been known to be fairly aggressive when faced with human encounters. As with other bear species, the sun bear has enormous paws and long claws which aid the sun bear in digging, tree climbing and breaking open bees nests in order to get the honeycomb that lies inside.

Spectacled Bear

True Wild Life | Spectacled Bear | The spectacled bear is also known as the Andean bear, mainly because the spectacled bear is native to the Andes mountain range of South America. The spectacled bears territory ranges from northwest Argentina, into Peru, Venezuela and Brazil. The spectacled bear generally feeds on berries and shoots found both on ground level and in the trees. The spectacled bear also feeds on insects and small mammals and reptiles, and occasionally cattle.

The spectacled bear is the only surviving species of bear in South America, with the spectacled bears ability to climb tall trees quickly, thought to be the reason for this. The spectacled bear tends to be found in the rain forests and jungled areas of the Andes mountains, particularly in the dryer and more forested areas. The spectacled bear is one of the only remaining species of bear that actively hunts during the day. Most species of bear are nocturnal and therefore generally hunt at night.

The spectacled bear is thought to be non-territorial but the spectacled bear appears to distance itself naturally from other large animals particularly humans. It is because of this that the spectacled bear is not thought to be aggressive when it encounters people and the spectacled bear is therefore reported to be docile yet curious when seeing human beings. Like many other species of bear, the spectacled bear mothers have been said to attack people when they believe that their spectacled bear cubs are in danger. Although the spectacled bear is a medium sized bear with the average adult spectacled bear growing to around 1.5 meters tall, an aggravated spectacled bear mother will use all of her bear power and skills to protect her young family.

The spectacled bear population is thought to be severely under threat and has been decreasing rapidly over recent years. This is because local farmers believe that the spectacled bear kills livestock, the natural habitat of the spectacled bear is ever decreasing, and the gall bladder of the spectacled bear is believed to have medicinal properties in Oriental medicine so the spectacled bear is always under threat from International poaches as well as native poachers.

Polar Bear

True Wild Life | Polar Bear | The polar bear is native to the Arctic Ocean but the polar bear is thought to be a sub-species of the brown bear. The polar bears scientific name is thought to mean sea bear, probably due to the fact that polar bear often spends long periods of time hunting in or on the freezing Arctic waters. The polar bear is one of the largest mammals on land with adult males often reaching over 800kg. The polar bear is the largest species of bear, with only a few grizzly bear males getting bigger than the average adult polar bear and these individuals are often polar-grizzly bear hybrids.

Most of the polar bears diet is comprised of seal, meaning the bears spend a lot of time on the frozen sea hunting the seal which is risky work especially when the ice begins to melt. The polar bear also eats fish but they are not as easy to spot (or catch) as a seal for a polar bear. The polar bears are often forced to swim for long distances in search of food, but tend to corner their prey towards the more frozen ice, as its easier for the polar bear to hunt on solid ground than it is for the polar bear to hunt in water, particularly as the seal is such a good swimmer.

Despite its bright white appearance, the fur of a polar bear is in fact clear and not white as it may seem. The polar bear has black skin under its long, thick coat of fur that together with the white from the surrounding snow, creates the illusion of a white coat!

Every year, the polar bear population is decreasing due to a mixture of hunting by humans and the ongoing effects of climate change. As the planet continues to get warmer, the sea ice is thawing earlier which means that the polar bear hunting season is getting shorter and shorter. Those human settlements within the Arctic Circle are seeing more polar bears every year as the polar bears are forced to make their way towards what they believe to be food. Many polar bears end up being shot when they venture close to towns although some areas are now taking measures to transport the polar bears away using helicopter rather than killing them.

Scientists have estimated that if climate change continues to have such a drastic effect on the polar bear's habitat, then the polar bear could be extinct within the next 30 years.

Grizzly Bear

True Wild Life | Grizzly Bear | The grizzly bear is a sub-species of the brown bear, also known as the Silvertip Bear. The grizzly bears live in the uplands of western North America, and each female bear produces a litter of young roughly every other year. Grizzly bears can often be seen to congregate together around streams in the salmon season to get the best catch. The grizzly bear is generally a solitary mammal.

It is estimated that less than 10% of grizzly bears make it into full adulthood. While the grizzly bear has no natural predators, the bears have been hunted by humans almost to extinction. The grizzly bear has a bad reputation amongst humans and animals alike, as the grizzly bear is known to be aggressive and very territorial. Due to the grizzly bears size, there are no known North American mammals that would naturally prey on the grizzly bear, making the grizzly bear an extremely dominant predator.

Female grizzly bears that have grizzly bear cubs will often be extremely wary of other animals and the grizzly bear mother will often keep her grizzly bear cubs in quieter areas until the grizzly bear cubs are old enough and big enough to defend themselves, at which point the grizzly bear cubs will generally venture away from their grizzly bear mother in order to begin a life of roaming themselves. The grizzly bear mothers however are incredibly protective of their young and will generally always attack any animal that she believes is a danger to her young family.

Male grizzly bears can grow to a height of more than 3 meters tall when standing on their hind legs, with female grizzly bears being around 40% smaller. As with the brown bear (from which the grizzly bear is thought to have come from), the grizzly bear has a humped look at the top of the grizzly bears back, which is the build of the enormous muscle that provides the bears with the strength they need, mainly when digging.

Although it is generally believed that the grizzly bear is a carnivore, grizzly bears, as with most other bear species, are in fact omnivores as the grizzly bear diet consists of both plants and animals. The grizzly bear is most famously known for its love of salmon and can often be seen in large groups around the areas where the salmon spawn. The grizzly bears are still very territorial though but appear to stay out of each others way on these occasions as there is always plenty of fish to go round.

Brown Bear

 

True Wild Life | Brown Bear | Brown Bears are found in many parts of North America and Eurasia, where the bears inhabit wooded and mountainous areas. The brown bear is also the national animal for a number of states in North America, Europe and Asia. Brown bears tend to feed on vegetation, fish and small land mammals, but the bears will only occasionally hunt bigger mammals like deer. Brown bears dont seem to be a great threat towards humans, although the mother brown bears will protect their young bear cubs.

Brown bears generally grow to about 2 - 3m tall, looking enormous when the bear stands on its hind legs. Brown bears have sadly been the target of taxidermists over the years resulting in the brown bear population declining. Today there is more in the way of Animal Rights meaning that the brown bear population can grow once again. The brown bear is one of the largest species of bear with only the grizzly bear and the polar bear getting to bigger sizes. Both the grizzly bear and the polar bear however, are distant sub-species of the brown bear that have today adapted to living in a different environment.

The brown bear is an extremely dominant predator in its environment, with only threats from human hunters posing any real dominance over the brown bears predatory rights. The brown bear has an enormous muscle between the brown bears shoulder blades that makes the brown bear stand out above other bear species. The enormous shoulder muscle that the brown bear has means that the brown bear has immensely strong forearms and allows the bear to break animal bones with one simple swipe. The brown bear has massive paws with claws that can grow longer than 15cm in length.

There are thought to be around 200,000 brown bear individuals left in the wild over half of which are found in Russia. Around 95% of the brown bear population found in the USA is in the northernmost state of Alaska. Most of the brown bears that inhabit regions of Canada are found in the west of the country in the Rocky Mountain range.

Black Bear

True Wild Life | Black Bear | Black Bears are the most common bear found in North America. The black bear's terrain ranges everywhere from Alaska to Canada to Mexico, and there have been occasional sighting of the black bear further into South America. Black bears generally grow to about 180cm tall and weigh around 300 lbs. Extremely large wild male black bears have been seen to grow over 250cm tall! Black bears have been known to run at speeds of 30mph for short periods of time and are good swimmers. The black bear's large claws make them good diggers, and make find hunting for grubs in the dirt a piece of cake!

The black bear is predominantly found in the northern USA and Canada, where the black bear generally eats berries and shoots but also fish, small mammals and the occasional small deer. The black bear can eat around 80 lbs of food a day during the summer months, which the black bear does to prepare itself for hibernating during the winter.

Despite the fact that the American black bear is found in 41 out of 50 states of the USA, and all provinces in Canada, the American black bear rarely comes into contact with humans and therefore tends to have a calmer attitude towards people when compared to other species of bear found in America, and the Asian black bear with whom the American black bear shares a common European ancestor.

Female black bears generally reach breeding age when they are around 5 years old and are able to produce offspring every couple of years but it is generally dependent on the health of the female black bear. Male black bears tend to reach breeding age at around the same time as the female black bears, however, the male black bears generally have to wait until they have grown and are therefore big enough to win breeding rights with the female black bear.

The American black bear has a very vegetarian diet with only around 15% of the black bears food intake being animal matter. The black bear feeds on nuts, seeds and berries found in the surrounding woodland and is a keen insect hunter eating wasps, ants and bees. The American black bear is a dominant predator in its environment except for when the black bears territory overlaps with the territory of the brown bear, where the two bear species seem to stay out of each others way.

Although black bear populations have been severely declining over the past 100 years due to hunting and habitat loss, recent reports show that black bear populations are finally beginning to increase. Although the black bear is still considered to be endangered in certain areas, in others the black bear seems to be thriving once again. The conservation status of the black bear has therefore been re-evaluated meaning that the black bear is now considered to be animal that is no longer under immediate threat of extinction.

Bear

True Wild Life | Bear | Bears are large dog like mammals found all around the world. There are eight different species of bear that are found in a wide range of habitats in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, mainly the Americas, Europe and Asia. Most bears are nocturnal, solitary animals only really congregating during the bears mating season. The mother bear will then raise her cubs until they too, are old enough to live on their own. Bears generally have an excellent sense of smell and are also fantastic at climbing trees, swimming and are able to run at speeds of up to 35 mph for short periods of time.

All bears are generally classified as carnivores but most species of bear today have adapted various herbivorous traits. For example, the giant panda has a diet that primarily comprises of bamboo. Most species of bear tend to hunt fish over land animals, although its not uncommon for a bear to not eat fish at all.

In Viking northern Europe, the locals firmly believed that by wearing a shirt made of bear skin, the wearer would adopt the powerful characteristics of the bear such as the bears strength and courage. Legend has it that the word berserk is said to originate from this belief from the way the affected men adopting these bear attributes behaved, but whether this is true or not is hard to tell.

The Malaysian sun bear is the smallest of the existing bear species, with the average adult sun bear measuring around 1 meter tall. The polar bear is generally the biggest species of bear with the adults growing to over 3 meters tall. The grizzly bear found in North America is the only other species of bear where the adults can get to this size, but it is uncommon.

Giant Panda Bear

True Wild Life | Giant Panda Bear | The giant panda bear is native to the mountainous regions of central and southern China. The giant panda would have once inhabited more lowland regions like jungles and grassy plains although the giant panda is now restricted to the higher mountain areas due to increased farming and habitat destruction in the lowlands. The giant panda bear is an omnivore eating a range of things from honey, to fish and small mammals. The giant panda bear's diet consists of roughly 95% bamboo, which the panda bear needs to eat as the bamboo plays a crucial part in the giant panda bear's digestion and water intake.

Today the giant panda bear is considered to be an endangered species with only 1,500 giant pandas thought to be left in the wild. Giant pandas are fairly docile bears as the giant panda rarely comes into contact with people in the wild. However, the giant panda bears have been known to attack humans when confronted particularly when the giant panda bear is kept in captivity. Due to the giant panda bears soft and cuddly appearance, there has been a number of instances in zoos worldwide, where humans think the giant panda bear is cute and therefore enter the giant panda bears enclosure. These instances generally end with the tourists getting a nasty bite from the surprised, and generally sleeping giant panda.

Despite the fact the average adult giant panda bear weighs around 150kg, when a panda bear cub is first born, the giant panda cub only weighs around 100g which is the same weight as a small mouse! The giant panda bear soon grows and generally reaches the full giant panda size within the panda bear cubs first few years. Scientists believe that the giant panda bear populations are today rising, due to increasing awareness of the importance of protecting one of the most beautiful bear species in the world. Some believe that are there could be as many as 3,000 giant panda bear individuals in the wild which is double what they first anticipated, although the giant panda bear is far from being taken off the endangered species list.

In recent years that giant panda bear has become an extremely important icon for China, a country who generally regard the dragon as being its main national emblem. The Chinese people have begun to use the giant panda bear more and more on flags and emblems and are keen to help to promote the conservation of the giant panda bear. As with most bear species, the male giant panda bears are generally much bigger than the female giant panda bears and are thought to be territorial animals. The giant panda bears spend most of their waking life roaming the bamboo forests high in the Chinese mountains, searching for food.

Asian Black Bear

 

True Wild Life | Asian Black Bear | Asian Black Bears are found in the forests of central and eastern Asia, mainly dwelling in caves or hollow trees, where they sleep all day! Asian black bears are nocturnal animals meaning that they only go out at night to forage for food. Asian black bears are outstanding tree climbers and are generally found around the mountain regions in Asia. Asian black bears will eat most things from fruits, nuts and berries to small mammals, amphibians and birds.

 

Asian black bears are still hunted throughout their Asian habitat by humans, for fur and medicinal purposes. Asian black bears are feared by most humans due to their aggressive nature, meaning that little effort is being made to conserve them as a species. Sadly, if this rate of hunting continues, the Asian black bear will soon become extinct. The Asian black bear is also commonly known as the Tibetan black bear or the Himalayan black bear, due to the region from which it comes. The Asian black bear is believed to be closely related to the American black bear through their ancestors that roamed the forests in Europe before these bears were exterminated by humans.

Asian black bears can grow to nearly two meters tall, although many Asian black bear individuals are smaller in size than this. The male Asian black bears are usually bigger than the female Asian black bears, with male Asian black bears often being double the size of the female Asian black bear. The Asian black bear is often referred to as the moon bear, mainly due to the crescent-shaped white patch on the Asian black bears chest. The Asian black bear also has sharp-claws which the Asian black bear uses to assist the Asian black bear in climbing trees to reach fruit and berries.

The breeding time for Asian black bears is in late summer, from June to October, and on an average two cubs are born per litter. The Asian black bear is able to reproduce at an age of 3 to 4 years, while the total gestation period takes 7 to 8 months.