Bears are killed out of concern for human safety or in retaliation for hunting livestock or crop-raiding. Habitat loss reduces the amount of area bears have to hunt and means they’re increasingly coming into contact with humans, which can lead to human-wildlife conflict. ThreatsĪmong the biggest threats to all species of bears is habitat loss, especially from logging, agriculture, and growing human populations. Brown bears in Alaska gorge on spawning salmon, plucking them from the water or catching them right out of the air as they jump. Despite their name, sloth bears are ferociously fast eaters, able to tear a hole in a termite mound, push their noses inside, and inhale a full meal in just a few seconds. American black bears love berries and insect larvae when they’re available, and giant pandas mainly eat bamboo, though they’ll also eat small animals. Bear dietĪll bears are considered omnivores-and yes, they all love the taste of honey-but each species has a preferred diet. After a couple of months, the cubs are strong enough to totter out after their mother-except for sloth bear cubs, which hitch a ride on their mother’s back. Giant pandas, which do not hibernate, usually give birth to just one cub. They live off a layer of fat that they build up during the summer and fall.įemale bears rouse during hibernation in their dens to give birth to up to four cubs. Grizzly and black bears can go for 100 days or so without eating, drinking, urinating, or defecating. Survival of the fattestĭuring winter, when food is scarce, most bears have an effective survival solution: hibernation, a physical state in which the heart rate, body temperature, metabolism, and respiration is lowered. Six species, including the polar bear and the giant panda, are included on the IUCN Red List as threatened or vulnerable. On average, bears can live up to 25 years in the wild and 50 in captivity. There are eight species: Asiatic black bears (also called moon bears), brown bears (which include grizzly bears), giant pandas, North American black bears, polar bears, sloth bears, spectacled bears (also called Andean bears), and sun bears. They’re typically solitary, except for mothers with cubs. They have nonretractable claws, short tails, and excellent sense of smell. They’re found throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. They can be as small as four feet long and about 60 pounds (the sun bear) to as big as eight feet long and more than a thousand pounds (the polar bear). Bears are mammals that belong to the family Ursidae.
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