Bear

An overview about bear

Often counted as the laziest animal, bears possess distinct characteristics that most are unaware of. The article provides an insight on the origin of bear, their types, diet and behaviour, threats they face, etc. Please have a look.

What kind of animal is bear?

Bears belong to the family of mammals. Their size can be small as four feet or as big as eight feet. They are mostly spotted in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. It is a solitary animal that doesn’t stay in herds or groups except for mothers with cubs. There are eight species of bears that are found in the jungle.

The evolution of bears

Modern bears are said to have been evolved by so-called bear dogs, who resided years ago. The analysis further reveals that the closest living relatives of bears are pinnipeds.

Species of bears that are spotted in the jungle

American Black Bears: These bears live in North America and Mexico. Their diet entails leaves, shoots, and nuts.

Asian Black Bear: These bears live in Southeast Asia and Russia. They have a black body and yellow fur on the chest. Apart from the fur, they resemble American Black bears.

Brown bear –  is the world’s largest meat-eating mammal found across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Polar Bear – It is huge and lives in the polar region of the Arctic, Alaska, and Canada. They can swim, and their diet includes seals and walruses. These bears need a cold environment to survive.

Giant panda – These bears’ diets include bamboo shoots and leaves, and they are exclusively found in the southern regions of western China. They have patterns on their body with black ears and eyespots.

Sloth bear – These bears are spotted in forests, grasslands, and scrublands in Asia. They have a shaggy fur coat with white marks on their chest. They eat termites and are known for their smell.

Spectacles bear – These bears are seen in the forests of South America and once lived in coastal areas and deserts. However, human encroachment has restricted their movement in these areas.

Sun bears live in tropical forests of South East Asia and can be spotted easily. The marks on their chest and U shaped fur patches make them distinct.

Do bears like humans?

Bears are nice as long as you are nice to them.

The quote says it all. Bears are shy, retiring animals who like to stay at a distance from humans. Even if they see food source around humans, they tend to avoid it.  However, if you enter their critical space, you may witness a negative encounter. So, bears are tolerant and less aggressive animals unless threatened by human beings.

How do they survive?

Most of the bear feast on animals, nuts, vegetables, leaves, and shoots. However, the polar bears are carnivorous, and they feed on seals and walruses, and the panda bear survives on bamboo shoots.

Communication sounds that they make

Just like humans, bears communicate with different voices, if not words. The voices are huffs, chomp, roar, growl, hum, and bark. The most dangerous sound that depicts the danger is roar and growl; it shows the bear agitated or trying to defend his territory.

Giant pandas have different sounds. Huff is a sound produced during the courtship or mating- the sounds are loud, and through it, they want cubs to pay attention to their mothers; they moan when they are anxious or feel a sense of danger. In addition to it, some bears can chip, bleat and honk.

Fun facts about bears

They have an outstanding sense of smell – The bear’s sense of smell is stronger, and it is said that they can smell a seal from a kilometre away. They have good eyesight and can see their prey from long distances.

They can easily find their way back home – Bears can go a long way in search of food. However, their navigation skills make them easy to return home.

They are very intelligent animals – As told above; they have superior navigation skills, high memory, and a large brain to body ratio that makes it easy to hunt animals.

They become sad – Bears grieve deeply for their cubs. When the cubs are separated from the mother or are killed by the hunters, they grieve.

They can build nests – Similar to birds, bears can build a nest on the trees and use it for hiding and sleeping.

They care deeply about their family members – Bears care deeply about their family and even fight to protect them when in danger.

They can swim to miles – Polar bears can swim to 30 miles without stopping.

Threats that they face

Apart from human encroachments, the main threat that these bears face is climate change.  Due to it they have come under the category of endangered animals.

Conclusion

Bears by nature, are solitary, but they do everything to protect their habitat. The above article is a simple way to understand bears, their species, evolution, diet, and much more. For more such informative posts, keep on reading our blog.