BEARS

AMERICAN BLACK BEAR

Most of the times bears are slow and shuffling along. However, the grizzly can speed up from ambling along to a 50km/h in no time. For an animal generally living on berries it is incredible strong. It had been known that they snap a moose’s back with one swipe of their paws or carry a deer in their mouth uphill.

It has a dense fur and adds a lot of weight to the bear’s body. It is the largest carnivores. Their heavily build bodies had a massive skulls, short, powerful limbs with long, sharp claws. Their rears and eyes are small but their muzzle is large emphasizing their superb smelling powers.  Their lips cover loosely their long canines and broad, flat molars for grinding and crushing.

Their diet exists mostly of berries and vegetation but now and then they do eat meat.  They great opportunist’s feeders.

Polar Bears due to its environments eats mainly fish and seals.

Bears are widespread. They live in the Tundra, coasts, tropical jungles and mountain forests. They don’t live in Africa, Antarctic and Australia.

When food is scarce, like in colder climates, the bears den up. They live off their body fat in the meantime but they do not hibernate. They are in lethargic state to avoid eating. During these winter months tiny cubs are born. Those bears living in a warmer climate where food is always available do not stay in a den except for pregnant females.

They are seven species of bear in the family of Ursideae. Three species the brown, polar and American black bear belong to the same genus Ursus.  The four remaining species the Asian black, sloth, sun and spectacled bear are belonging to four separate genera.

BROWN BEAR

The brown bear is the biggest of all bears. However, the brown bears can vary in weight and sizes depending on habitats and food availability. The American brown bears can weigh up to 400kg. The males are 80 per cent heavier than the females.

The American brown bear shows its full size when it stands up. The Kodiak subspecies from the Kodiak, Adognak and Shuyak Islands off Alaska are mot probably the biggest of the brown bear. They can weigh upto 1000kg and stand up to 3.4m tall The Siberian or Kamchatkan brown bear is nearly the same size.

This Spanish brown bear weighs between 80 and 300 kg.

To build-up these massive body weights it has to eat a great quantity. It can be up to 16kg a day. Their main diet is grasses, berries, shoots and tubers. If they get the chance they eat also carrion, insects, rodents, catch fish and chase to kill caribou including deer as big as an elk.

On a whole brown bears are very intolerant. They will just about have company where there is plenty of food such at rivers when the salmon spawning or waste dumps.

BLACK BEARS

The American black bears are like the brown bears in size and habits. It lives in forests from New Mexico to Alaska. Its coat is shorter and has a variety of colours. They are black, various browns, blue-grey and incredible but true in cream.

To survive the winter they have to eat enormously to build up their body fat and breed successfully. In order to do this they cover a great area. They feed on berries, tubers, nuts, shoots, insect larvae, carrion and fish.  They are very attracted to orchards, picnic baskets and beehives. On a whole they live a life in the slow lane. The exception is when they see a deer or beaver they would like for their meal.

The females lives alone or with their young ones in territories. They will give a signal to males with scented urines and the males are moving into their area. The female, after mating, will move into a den for the winter. There she gives birth to two or three naked cubs. When it gets warmer again they emerge. The young ones will stay with their mother for about one and a half year. After that they will move out and lead a solitary life.

POLAR BEARS

The polar bear stands up to 3m and weighs up to 600kg. The hug white bears living on the North poleis the largest and fiercest of carnivorous land mammals. It waits at the breathing holes of its main food supply, the seal. The polar bear slaps it when the seal emerges for air. It also attacks at their breeding dens or on ice flows. They also eat dead whales, attack beluga whales and walruses. They number one seal are the ringed seal but will not ignore the bearded, hooded and harp seals.

Polar bears live alone and cover huge areas to find food. When the food is scarce they will also eat small mammals, births, eggs and vegetation. Males seek out females in the mating season.

Mother Nature provided them with great adaptation for their hostile environments. The short ears prevent heat loss and they are covered with white fur except their nose and feet pads. The white fur not only serves as a camouflage but it is a great insulation and water repellent. The bear is a great swimmer with its dense coat protecting against icy water, streamline shaped body and partially webbed feet.

The pregnant female digs a den in bit snowdrifts where she gives birth to 1-3 cubs. Cubs live with their mother for two year and then go to find their own territory.