Is the Asian black bear the same as a Sun Bear?
Asian black bear
Biologically and morphologically, Asiatic black bears represent the beginning of the arboreal specializations attained by sloth bears and sun bears. Asiatic black bears have karyotypes nearly identical to those of the five other ursine bears, and, as is typical in the genus, they have 74 chromosomes. From an evolutionary perspective, Asiatic black bears are the least changed of Old World bears, with certain scientists arguing that it is likely that all other lineages of ursine bear stem from this species. Scientists have proposed that Asiatic black bears are either a surviving, albeit modified, form of "Ursus etruscus", specifically the early, small variety of the Middle Villafranchian (Upper Pliocene to Lower Pleistocene) or a larger form of "Ursus minimus", an extinct species that arose 4,000,000 years ago. With the exception of the age of the bones, it is often difficult to distinguish the remains of "Ursus minimus" with those of modern Asiatic black bears.
Cinnamon bear
The cinnamon bear ("Ursus americanus cinnamomum") is both a highly variable color morph and a subspecies of the American black bear, native to the central and western areas of the United States and Canada. Established populations are found in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Manitoba, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wyoming, California, Alberta, and British Columbia. They also have been seen in Pennsylvania and New York. The most striking difference between a cinnamon bear and any other black bear is its brown or red-brown fur, reminiscent of cinnamon. The subspecies was given this designation because the lighter color phase is more common there than in other areas.
Alaska Peninsula brown bear
The Alaska Peninsula brown bear's name most likely arose because, until 1975, they were considered a different species from the inland grizzly bear. They were never considered closer to European brown bears than inland grizzlies, but were given a different name, due to the size and color differences of coastal browns and inland grizzlies. From 1975 onward, they were considered to be the same species, but coastal ones retained the name "brown bear."
Louisiana black bear
While the IUCN classifies the conservation situation of the black bear as a species as Least Concern, the Louisiana black bear as a subspecies was listed as 'threatened' under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1992. Under this ruling, all bears within the historic range of the Louisiana black bear, from eastern Texas to southern Mississippi, have been protected. On April 11, 2016, the Louisiana black bear was removed from the list as well as the "Similarity-of-Appearance Protections" for the American black bear.
American black bear
Over much of their range, American black bears are assured scavengers that can intimidate, using their large size and considerable strength, and if necessary dominate other predators in confrontations over carcasses. However, on occasions where they encounter Kodiak or grizzly bears, the larger two brown subspecies dominate them. American black bears tend to escape competition from brown bears by being more active in the daytime and living in more densely forested areas. Violent interactions, resulting in the deaths of American black bears, have been recorded in Yellowstone National Park.
American black bear
Throughout their range, habitats preferred by American black bears have a few shared characteristics. They are often found in areas with relatively inaccessible terrain, thick understory vegetation and large quantities of edible material (especially masts). The adaptation to woodlands and thick vegetation in this species may have originally been due to the American black bear having evolved alongside larger, more aggressive bear species, such as the extinct giant short-faced bear and the still-living grizzly bear, that monopolized more open habitats and the historic presence of larger predators, such as "Smilodon" and the American lion, that could have preyed on American black bears. Although found in the largest numbers in wild, undisturbed areas and rural regions, American black bears can adapt to surviving in some numbers in peri-urban regions, as long as they contain easily accessible foods and some vegetative coverage.
Short-faced bear
"Arctodus" moved in a pacing motion like a camel, horse, and modern bears, making it built more for endurance than for great speed. "A. simus", according to these arguments, was ill-equipped to be an active predator, leading some to conclude that it was a kleptoparasite, using its enormous size to intimidate smaller predators, such as dire wolves, saber-tooth cats, and American lions, or chase them from their kills and steal their food. This idea was challenged in a 2013 study of the micro-wear of the teeth of various extant and extinct bears. The researchers concluded that the short-faced bear was not a pure scavenger and in fact was even less of a scavenger than the modern polar bear. A 2010 study concluded that the species was neither a super-predator nor pure scavenger but an opportunistic omnivore like modern brown bears.
Japanese black bear
The bears live on three Japanese islands: Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. They can be found in the northeastern high snow region and the southwestern low snow region however, they have been spotted as high as the alpine region more than 3,000 meters high. They tend to live in areas where there is an abundance of grasses and trees with berries to support their diet.
Bile bear
The world population of Asiatic black bears decreased between 30% to 49% between 1980 and 2010. Although their reliability is unclear, range-wide estimates of 5–6,000 bears have been presented by Russian biologists. Rough density estimates without corroborating methods or data have been made in India and Pakistan, resulting in estimates of 7–9,000 in India and 1,000 in Pakistan. Unsubstantiated estimates from China give varying estimates between 15,000 and 46,000, with a government estimate of 28,000. Some estimates put the current (2015) total Asian worldwide population as low as 25,000.
Grizzly bear
Coastal grizzlies, often referred to by the popular but geographically redundant synonym of "brown bear" or "Alaskan brown bear" are larger and darker than inland grizzlies, which is why they, too, were considered a different species from grizzlies. Kodiak grizzly bears were also at one time considered distinct. Therefore, at one time there were five different "species" of brown bear, including three in North America.
Bear hunting
Bears are large mammals in the order Carnivora. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere and partially in the Southern Hemisphere. The IUCN lists six bear species as vulnerable or endangered, and even "least concern" species such as the brown bear are at risk of extirpation in certain countries. Poaching and illegal international trade of threatened populations continues.
American black bear
An American black bear shot in autumn 1986 in Michigan was thought by some to be an American black bear/grizzly bear hybrid, due to its unusually large size and its proportionately larger braincase and skull. DNA testing was unable to determine whether it was a large American black bear or a grizzly bear.
Polar bear
The polar bear ("Ursus maritimus") is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is a large bear, approximately the same size as the omnivorous Kodiak bear ("Ursus arctos middendorffi"). A boar (adult male) weighs around , while a sow (adult female) is about half that size. Although it is the sister species of the brown bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrower ecological niche, with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice and open water, and for hunting seals, which make up most of its diet. Although most polar bears are born on land, they spend most of their time on the sea ice. Their scientific name means "maritime bear" and derives from this fact. Polar bears hunt their preferred food of seals from the edge of sea ice, often living off fat reserves when no sea ice is present. Because of their dependence on the sea ice, polar bears are classified as marine mammals.
Mammals of Glacier National Park (U.S.)
The American black bear ("Ursus americanus") is North America's smallest and most common species of bear. It is a generalist animal, being able to exploit numerous different habitats and foodstuffs. The American black bear is listed by the IUCN as least concern, due to the species widespread distribution and a large global population estimated to be twice that of all other bear species combined.
Brown bear
While the brown bear's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions, it remains listed as a least concern species by the IUCN, with a total population of approximately 200,000. , this and the American black bear are the only bear species not classified as threatened by the IUCN. However, the California, North African and Mexican subspecies, as well as brown bear populations in the Pacific Northwest, were hunted to extinction in the 19th and early 20th centuries and many of the southern Asian subspecies are highly endangered. The Syrian brown bear ("Ursus arctos syriacus") is very rare and it has been extirpated from more than half of its historic range. One of the smallest-bodied subspecies, the Himalayan brown bear ("Ursus arctos isabellinus"), is critically endangered, occupying only 2% of its former range and threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its body parts. The Marsican brown bear in central Italy is believed to have a population of just 30-40 bears.
Sloth bear
Sloth bear fur is completely black (rusty for some specimens), save for a whitish Y- or V-shaped mark on the chest. This feature is sometimes absent, particularly in Sri Lankan specimens. This feature, which is also present in Asian black bears and sun bears, is thought to serve as a threat display, as all three species are sympatric with tigers (tigers usually do not carry out attacks on an adult bear if the bear is aware or facing the cat). The coat is long, shaggy, and unkempt, despite the relatively warm environment in which the species is found, and is particularly heavy behind the neck and between the shoulders, forming a mane which can be long. The belly and underlegs can be almost bare. Sloth bears are usually about the same size as an Asian black bear but are immediately distinctive for their shaggier coat, whitish claws, as well as their typically rangier build. Their head and mouth is highly distinct from that of a black bear with a longer, narrower skull shape (particularly the snout), loose-looking, flappier lips and paler muzzle colour. In few areas of overlap, sloth bear confusion with sun bears is unlikely, given the latter species considerably smaller size, much shorter fur, wrinkled folding skin (especially around the back), bolder chest marking and drastically different, more compact head structure and appearance.
Asian black bear
Today, black bears are only legally hunted for sport in Japan and Russia. In Russia, 75–100 black bears are legally harvested annually, though 500 a year are reportedly harvested illegally. Russian sport hunting of black bears became legalised in 2004. According to a 2008 article written in "The Sun", Russia's Slavic Hunting Club offers four day trips with four guaranteed black bear kills for the sum of £16,000. The article indicated that clients receiving permits for black bear hunts included people from Britain, the United States, Germany, Spain, Poland and Finland.
After the introduction of Buddhism in Japan, which prohibited the killing of animals, the Japanese compromised by devising different strategies in hunting bears. Some, such as the inhabitants of the Kiso area in the Nagano Prefecture, prohibited the practise altogether, while others developed rituals in order to placate the spirits of killed bears. In some Japanese hunting communities, black bears lacking the white chest mark are considered sacred. In the Akita Prefecture, bears lacking the mark were known by "matagi" huntsmen as "minaguro" (all black) or "munaguro" (black chested), and were also considered messengers of "yama no kami". If such a bear was shot, the huntsman would offer it to "yama no kami", and give up hunting from that time on. Similar beliefs were held in Nagano, where the completely black bears were termed "nekoguma" or cat-bear. "Matagi" communities believed that killing a bear in the mountains would result in a bad storm, which was linked to the belief that bear spirits could affect weather. The "matagi" would generally hunt bears in spring or from late autumn to early winter, before they hibernated. In mountain regions, bears were hunted by driving them upland to a waiting hunter who would shoot it. Bear hunting expeditions were preceded by rituals, and could last up to two weeks. After killing the bear, the "matagi" would pray for the bear's soul. Bear hunts in Japan are often termed "kuma taiji", meaning "bear conquest". The word "taiji" itself is often used in Japanese folklore to describe the slaying of monsters and demons.
Brown bear
While the brown bear's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions, it remains listed as a least concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with a total population of approximately 200,000. , this and the American black bear are the only bear species not classified as threatened by the IUCN. However, the California, North African and Mexican subspecies were hunted to extinction in the 19th and early 20th centuries and many of the southern Asian subspecies are highly endangered. One of the smaller-bodied subspecies, the Himalayan brown bear, is critically endangered, occupying only 2% of its former range and threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its body parts. The Marsican brown bear, one of several currently isolated populations of the main Eurasian brown bear population in central Italy, is believed to have a population of just 30 to 40 bears.
Kodiak bear
Physiologically, the Kodiak bear is very similar to the other brown bear subspecies, such as the mainland grizzly bear ("Ursus arctos horribilis") and the now-extinct California grizzly bear ("U. a. californicus"†), with the main difference being in size. While there is generally much variation in size between brown bears in different areas, most usually weigh between 115 and 360 kg (254 and 794 lb). The Kodiak bear, on the other hand, commonly reaches sizes of , and has even been known to exceed weights of . Despite this large variation in size, the diet and lifestyle of the Kodiak bear does not differ greatly from that of other brown bears.
Sun bear
The sun bear's fur is usually jet-black, short, and sleek with some under-wool; some individual sun bears are reddish or gray. Two whirls occur on the shoulders, from where the hair radiates in all directions. A crest is seen on the sides of the neck and a whorl occurs in the centre of the breast patch. Always, a more or less crescent-shaped pale patch is found on the breast that varies individually in colour ranging from buff, cream, or dirty white to ochreous. The skin is naked on the upper lip. The tongue is long and protrusible. The ears are small and round, broad at the base, and capable of very little movement. The front legs are somewhat bowed with the paws turned inwards, and the claws are cream.
Bear attack
Though usually shy and cautious animals, Asian black bears are more aggressive toward humans than the brown bears of Eurasia. According to Brigadier General R.G. Burton:
American black bear
American black bears are reproductively compatible with several other bear species and have occasionally produced hybrid offspring. According to Jack Hanna's "Monkeys on the Interstate", a bear captured in Sanford, Florida, was thought to have been the offspring of an escaped female Asian black bear and a male American black bear. In 1859, an American black bear and a Eurasian brown bear were bred together in the London Zoological Gardens, but the three cubs that were born died before they reached maturity. In "The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication", Charles Darwin noted:
Asian black bear
The main habitat threat to Chinese black bears is overcutting of forests, largely due to human populations increasing to over 430,000 in regions where bears are distributed, in the Shaanxi, Ganshu, and Sichuan provinces. 27 forestry enterprises were built in these areas between 1950 and 1985 (excluding the lumbering units belonging to the county). By the early 1990s, the black bear distribution area was reduced to only one-fifth of the area that existed before the 1940s. Isolated bear populations face environmental and genetic stress in these circumstances. However, one of the most important reasons for their decrease involves overhunting, as black bear paws, gall bladders and cubs have great economic value. Black bear harvests are maintained at a high level due to the harm they cause to crops, orchards and bee farms. During the 1950s and 1960s, 1000 bears were harvested annually in the Heilongjiang Province. However, purchased furs were reduced by 4/5, even by 9/10 yearly in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. Bears have also been declining annually in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Nations Autonomous Prefecture and the Yunnan Province.
Asian black bear
In Russia, the black bear's northern range runs from Innokenti Bay on the coast of the Sea of Japan southwest to the elevated areas of Sikhote Alin crossing it at the sources of the Samarga River. At this point, the boundary directs itself to the north, through the middle course of the Khor, Anyui and Khungari rivers, and comes to the shore of the Amur, crossing the it at the level of the mouth of the Gorin. Along the Amur river, the species' presence has been noted as far as 51° N. Lat. From there, the territorial boundary runs southwest of the river's left bank, passing through the northern part of Lake Bolon and the juncture point of the Kur and Tunguska. Black bears are encountered in the Urmi's lower course. Within the Ussuri krai, the species is restricted to broad leaved Manchurian type forests.
Asian black bear
Although Asiatic black bears still occurs in different parts of the country mainly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the population is very low in number. The survey also fears that Asiatic black bears will soon be extinct from Bangladesh if necessary steps are not taken in near future.
American black bear
The fur is soft, with dense underfur and long, coarse, thick guard hairs. The fur is not as shaggy or coarse as that of brown bears. American black bear skins can be distinguished from those of Asian black bears by the lack of a white blaze on the chest and hairier footpads. Despite their name, American black bears show a great deal of color variation. Individual coat colors can range from white, blonde, cinnamon, light brown or dark chocolate brown to jet black, with many intermediate variations existing. Silvery-gray American black bears with a blue luster (this is found mostly on the flanks) occur along a portion of coastal Alaska and British Columbia. White to cream-colored American black bears occur in the coastal islands and the adjacent mainland of southwestern British Columbia. Albino specimens have also been recorded. Black coats tend to predominate in moist areas such as Maine, New York, Tennessee, Michigan and western Washington. Approximately 70% of all American black bears are black, though only 50% of American black bears in the Rocky Mountains are black. Many American black bears in northwestern North America are cinnamon, blonde or light brown in color and thus may sometimes be mistaken for grizzly bears. Grizzly (and other types of brown) bears can be distinguished by their shoulder hump, larger size and broader, more concave skull.
Asian black bear
Until the Late Pleistocene, two further subspecies ranged across Europe and western Asia. These are "Ursus thibetanus mediterraneus" in western Europe and the Caucasus and "Ursus thibetanus permjak" from eastern Europe, especially the Ural Mountains.
Asian black bear
The Asiatic black bear's range overlaps with that of sloth bears in central and southern India, sun bears in Southeast Asia and brown bears in the southern part of the Russian Far East. Ussuri brown bears may attack black bears, though Himalayan brown bears seem to be intimidated by the black species in direct encounters. They will eat the fruit dropped by black bears from trees, as they themselves are too large and cumbersome to climb.
Asian black bear
A black bear with broken hind legs can still climb effectively. In contrast to polar bears, Asiatic black bears have powerful upper bodies for climbing trees, and relatively weak hind legs which are shorter than those in brown bears and American black bears. They are the most bipedal of all bears, and have been known to walk upright for over a quarter mile. The heel pads on the forefeet are larger than those of most other bear species. Their claws, which are primarily used for climbing and digging, are slightly longer on the fore foot (30–45 mm) than the back (18–36 mm), and are larger and more hooked than those of the American black bear.
Katmai National Park and Preserve
Katmai is also well known for Alaskan brown bears and the sockeye salmon which attract both bears and people. Katmai contains the world's largest protected brown bear population, estimated to number about 2,200. Bears are especially likely to congregate at the Brooks Falls viewing platform when the salmon are spawning, and many well known photographs of Alaskan brown bears have been taken there. The salmon arrive early at Brooks Falls compared to other streams, and between 43 and 70 individual bears have been documented at the falls in July and an equal number of bears are seen in the lower river in September. The coastal areas such as Hallo Bay, Kukak Bay, Kuliak Bay, Kaflia Bay, Geographic Harbor and Chiniak Bay also host very high population densities of bears year-round, due to the availability of clams and edible coastal sedge as well as salmon and other fish. Other hotspots include Swikshak Lagoon, American Creek, and in the preserve, Moraine Creek and Funnel Creek.
The vast majority of Katmai visitors come to Brooks Camp, one of the only developed areas of the park, and few venture further than the bear viewing platforms and the adjacent Brooks Camp area. Rangers at the park are extremely careful not to allow bears to obtain human food or get into confrontations with humans. As a result, bears in Katmai Park are uniquely unafraid of and uninterested in humans, and will allow people to approach (and photograph) much more closely than bears elsewhere. New webcams pioneered by the NPS will bring the 100 bears of Brooks Camp directly to your computer or smartphone. July and September are by far the best months for viewing brown bears in the Brooks Camp area.
Asian black bear
Although the black bear is protected in India, due to being listed as vulnerable in the Red Data Book in Appendix I of CITES in India and in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act and its 1991 amendment, it has been difficult to prosecute those accused of poaching black bears due to lack of witnesses and lack of Wildlife Forensic Labs to detect the originality of confiscated animal parts or products. Moreover, due to India's wide stretching boundaries with other nations such as Pakistan, Tibet, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, it is difficult to police such borders, which are often in mountainous terrain.
Sun bear
The main predator of sun bears throughout its range by far is man. Commercial poaching of bears for the wildlife trade is a considerable threat in most countries. During surveys in Kalimantan between 1994 and 1997, interviewees admitted to hunting sun bears and indicated that sun bear meat is eaten by indigenous people in several areas in Kalimantan. High consumption of bear parts was reported to occur where Japanese or Korean expatriate employees of timber companies created a temporary demand. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) shops in Sarawak and Sabah offered sun bear gallbladders. Several confiscated sun bears indicated that live bears are also in demand for the pet trade.
Eurasian brown bear
The Eurasian brown bear ("Ursus arctos arctos") is one of the most common subspecies of the brown bear, and is found in much of Eurasia. It is also known as the European bear, common brown bear, common bear, and colloquially by many other names. "The genetic diversity of present-day brown bears ("Ursus arctos") has been extensively studied over the years and appears to be geographically structured into five main clades based upon analysis of the mtDNA."
Bear
Most mammals have agouti hair, with each individual hair shaft having bands of colour corresponding to two different types of melanin pigment. Bears however have a single type of melanin and the hairs have a single colour throughout their length, apart from the tip which is sometimes a different shade. The coat consists of long guard hairs, which form a protective shaggy covering, and short dense hairs which form an insulating layer trapping air close to the skin. The shaggy coat helps maintain body heat during winter hibernation and is shed in the spring leaving a shorter summer coat. Polar bears have hollow, translucent guard hairs which gain heat from the sun and conduct it to the dark-coloured skin below. They have a thick layer of blubber for extra insulation, and the soles of their feet have a dense pad of fur. Other than the bold black-and-white pelage of the panda, bears tend to be uniform in colour, although some species may have markings on the chest or face.
American black bear
An American black bear has better eyesight and a better sense of hearing compared to humans. Their keenest sense is their sense of smell, which is about seven times greater than a domestic dog's. American black bears are excellent and strong swimmers, doing so for pleasure and to feed (largely on fish). They regularly climb trees to feed, escape enemies and hibernate. Four of the eight modern bear species are habitually arboreal (the most arboreal species, the American and Asian black bears and the sun bear, being fairly closely related). Their arboreal abilities tend to decline with age. American black bears may be active at any time of the day or night, although they mainly forage by night. American black bears living near human habitations tend to be more extensively nocturnal and American black bears living near brown bears tend to be more extensively diurnal. Their social behavior is somewhat similar to that of canids.
Sun bear
Tigers and other large cats are potential predators. American Museum of Natural History
naturalist and co-founder Albert S. Bickmore described a case in which a tiger-sun bear interaction resulted in a prolonged altercation and in the death of both animals. A wild female sun bear was swallowed by a large reticulated python in a lowland dipterocarp forest in East Kalimantan. The python possibly had come across the sleeping bear. Other predators on mainland Southeast Asia and Sumatra could be the leopard and the clouded leopard, although the latter could be too small to kill an adult sun bear.
Asian black bear
Black bears typically inhabit deciduous forests, deserts, mixed forests and thornbrush forests. They rarely live in elevations of more than . They usually inhabit elevations around in the Himalayas in the summer, and will climb down to in winter. They sometimes occur at sea level in Japan.
Wildlife of Phitsanulok Province
Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere and partially in the Southern Hemisphere. Common characteristics of modern bears include a large body with stocky legs, a long snout, shaggy hair, paws with five nonretractile claws, and a short tail. The Department of National Parks reports that there are Asiatic black bears ("Ursus thibetanus") living in the wild in Phitsanulok Province. This bear species has been classified as a vulnerable species, meaning likely to become endangered unless the circumstances threatening its survival and reproduction improve.
Asian black bear
South Korea remains one of two countries to allow bear bile farming to continue legally. As reported in 2009, approximately 1,374 bears reside in an estimated 74 bear farms where they are kept for slaughter to fuel the demands of traditional Asian medicine. In sharp contrast, fewer than 20 bears can be found at Jirisan Restoration Center, located in Korea's Jirisan National Park.
Crazy Bear (Assiniboine chief)
Crazy Bear (1785–1856) was an Indian chief of the Assiniboine tribes of the northern plains. Their territory included Montana, North Dakota, Alberta and Saskatchewan. He is known as a skilled negotiator with the American Fur Company at Fort Union, North Dakota; and for his participation and representation at the Fort Laramie Treaty Council of 1851—where he was a signatory of the treaty' He earned the name "Mah-To-Wit-Ko" (meaning "Crazy Bear") because he fought like a crazy bear. "Wit-Ko" is a Siouan word that has multiple translations: crazy, foolish, frightening and mad. Crazy Bear has been recorded by these names and also in French as "Ours Fou" (in various sketches and documents).
Asian black bear
Asiatic black bears are diurnal, though they become nocturnal near human habitations. They may live in family groups consisting of two adults and two successive litters of young. They will walk in a procession of largest to smallest. They are good climbers of rocks and trees, and will climb to feed, rest, sun, elude enemies and hibernate. Some older bears may become too heavy to climb. Half of their life is spent in trees and they are one of the largest arboreal mammals. In the Ussuri territory in the Russian Far East, black bears can spend up to 15% of their time in trees. Asiatic black bears break branches and twigs to place under themselves when feeding on trees, thus causing many trees in their home ranges to have nest-like structures on their tops. Asiatic black bears will rest for short periods in nests on trees standing fifteen feet or higher. Asiatic black bears do not hibernate over most of their range. They may hibernate in their colder, northern ranges, though some bears will simply move to lower elevations. Nearly all pregnant sows hibernate. Black bears prepare their dens for hibernation in mid-October, and will sleep from November until March. Their dens can either be dug out hollow trees (sixty feet above ground), caves or holes in the ground, hollow logs, or steep, mountainous and sunny slopes. They may also den in abandoned brown bear dens. Asiatic black bears tend to den at lower elevations and on less steep slopes than brown bears. Female black bears emerge from dens later than do males, and female black bears with cubs emerge later than barren females. Asiatic black bears tend to be less mobile than brown bears. With sufficient food, Asian black bears can remain in an area of roughly 1–2 sq km, and sometimes even as little as 0.5–1 sq km.
Brown bear
Brown bears are thought to have evolved from "Ursus etruscus" in Asia. The brown bear, per Kurten (1976), has been stated as "clearly derived from the Asian population of "Ursus savini" about 800,000 years ago; spread into Europe, to the New World." A genetic analysis indicated that the brown bear lineage diverged from the cave bear species complex approximately 1.2–1.4 million years ago, but did not clarify if "U. savini" persisted as a paraspecies for the brown bear before perishing. The oldest fossils positively identified as from this species occur in China from about 0.5 million years ago. Brown bears entered Europe about 250,000 years ago and North Africa shortly after. Brown bear remains from the Pleistocene period are common in the British Isles, where it is thought they might have outcompeted giant cave bears ("Ursus spelaeus"). The species entered Alaska 100,000 years ago, though they did not move south until 13,000 years ago. It is speculated that brown bears were unable to migrate south until the extinction of the much larger giant short-faced bear ("Arctodus simus").
Bear danger
Some species are more aggressive than others; sloth bears, Asiatic black bears, and brown bears are more likely to injure people than other species, and the American black bear is comparatively timid.
Asian black bear
In the past, the farmers of the Himalayan lowlands feared black bears more than any other pest, and would erect platforms in the fields, where watchmen would be posted at night and would beat drums to frighten off any interlopers. However, some black bears would grow accustomed to the sound and encroach anyway.
Asian Semi-longhair
The Asian Semi-Longhair is a cat breed similar to the Asian Shorthair except it has semi-long fur. The breed is also known by the name Tiffanie or Tiffany. It is recognized in any of the Asian Shorthair or Burmese colors and patterns. Like the Asian Shorthair, the breed was developed in Britain and is not currently recognized by any U.S. Registries. It has full recognition in the GCCF. It is related to, and in some registries distinct from, the Chantilly-Tiffany or Foreign Longhair, the North American variant.
Kung Fu Bear
Kung Fu Bear is an Internet meme involving an Asian black bear who skillfully twirls, throws and catches a long staff.
Mammals of Olympic National Park
The American black bear ("Ursus americanus") is North America's smallest and most common species of bear. It is a generalist animal, being able to exploit numerous different habitats and foodstuffs. The American black bear is listed by the IUCN as least concern, due to the species widespread distribution and a large global population estimated to be twice that of all other bear species combined.
Brown bear
In Asia, brown bears are found in nearly every part of Russia, thence to the southeast in a small area of Northeast China, western China and parts of North Korea. Further west, they reach the southern limits of their worldwide distribution, dwelling spottily in northern Pakistan, Afghanistan and the northernmost point of India; i.e., Jammu and Kashmir.
American black bear
The hibernating American black bear does not display the same rate of muscle and bone atrophy relative to other nonhibernatory animals that are subject to long periods of inactivity due to ailment or old age. A hibernating American black bear loses approximately half the muscular strength compared to that of a well-nourished, inactive human. The bear's bone mass does not change in geometry or mineral composition during hibernation, which implies that the bear's conservation of bone mass during hibernation is due to a biological mechanism. During hibernation American black bears retain all excretory waste, leading to the development of a hardened mass of fecal material in the colon known as a fecal plug. A special hormone, leptin, is released into the bear's systems to suppress appetite. The retention of waste during hibernation (specifically in minerals such as calcium) may play a role in the bear's resistance to atrophy.
The body temperature of the American black bear does not drop significantly, like other mammalian hibernators (staying around ) and they remain somewhat alert and active. If the winter is mild enough, they may wake up and forage for food. Females also give birth in February and nurture their cubs until the snow melts. During winter, American black bears consume 25–40% of their body weight. The footpads peel off while they sleep, making room for new tissue.
Asian black bear
At the turn of the 20th century, a hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir received dozens of black bear victims annually. When black bears attack humans, they rear up on their hind legs and knock victims over with their paws. Then they bite them on an arm or leg and snap on the victim's head, this being the most dangerous part of the attack.
Bear attacks have been increasing in Kashmir since the Kashmir conflict. In November 2009, in the Kulgam district of Indian-administered Kashmir, a black bear attacked four insurgents after discovering them in its den, and killed two of them.
Northern bobwhite
The Central American spot-bellied bobwhite looks very similar, but lacks black facial coloration. The Asian rain quail is smaller in size and has a black breast.
Formosan black bear
The Formosan bear lives in the mountainous forests in the eastern two-thirds of Taiwan at elevations of . In the winter, rather than hibernating like Asiatic black bears in temperate areas, they move to lower elevations to find food. They are active for 54–57% of daylight hours, and more active during summer (60%) and fall/winter (60%) than spring (47%). They are primarily active during the day in the spring and summer; and increasingly active at night in the fall/winter when acorns are abundant. They are solitary and usually move around extensively except during the mating season or when caring for cubs. Formosan bears are also the only bears on the planet that make temporary nests.
Free the Bears Fund
The Free the Bears Fund (FBF) is an Australian charitable wildlife-protection organisation. It was started by Mary Hutton, after she watched a documentary in 1993 on bears kept in small cages for bile farming. The fund was registered as a not-for-profit charity on 23 March 1995. The Free the Bears Fund supports animal welfare projects in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, working with rescued and confiscated Asian black bear ("Ursus thibetanus"), Sun bear ("Helarctos malayanus"), and Sloth bear ("Melursus ursinus"). A sister charity Free the Bears UK was established in the United Kingdom in 2010.
Asian badger
Asian badgers are mostly lighter in colour than European badgers, though some forms may closely approach the former species in colour, if not darker, with smudges of ocherous and brownish highlights. The flanks are lighter than the middle of the back, and the facial stripes are usually brown rather than black. Unlike the facial stripes of European badgers, those of Asian badgers narrow behind their eyes and extend above the ears. The white parts of the head are usually dirtier in colour than those of European badgers. The light stripe passing along the top of the head between the two stripes is relatively short and narrow. They are generally smaller than their European cousins, and have relatively longer upper molars. They indeed appear to be the smallest of the three "Meles" badgers despite regional size variations, with the largest-bodied populations of the species found in Siberia where some populations are about the same size as the European badger. Body mass will typically range from and length from . The average weight of three adult males from Sobaeksan National Park, South Korea was .
Glacier bear
Glacier bears, like all other black bears, are omnivores, with their diets varying depending on the food source available during the season and the location. Their diet includes young shoots and roots in early spring. During the summer in Alaska, the glacier bear eats the abundant Pacific salmon spawning in the streams. In some areas, moose and deer are a food source for black bears. During the fall, the bears eat the starchy roots of ground cones and the variety of berries found in Alaska such as blueberries, salmonberries, raspberries, and cranberries.
Asian black bear
Although mostly herbivorous, the jaw structure of Asiatic black bears is not as specialized for plant eating as that of pandas: Asian black bears have much narrower zygomatic arches, and the weight ratio of the two pterygoid muscles is also much smaller in Asian black bears. The lateral slips of the temporal muscles are thicker and stronger in black bears.
Bear
Most bears are opportunistic omnivores and consume more plant than animal matter. They eat anything from leaves, roots, and berries to insects, carrion, fresh meat, and fish, and have digestive systems and teeth adapted to such a diet. At the extremes are the almost entirely herbivorous giant panda and the mostly carnivorous polar bear. However, all bears feed on any food source that becomes seasonally available. For example, Asiatic black bears in Taiwan consume large numbers of acorns when these are most common, and switch to ungulates at other times of the year.
Brown bear
Brown bears usually dominate other bear species in areas where they coexist. Due to their smaller size, American black bears are at a competitive disadvantage to brown bears in open, unforested areas. Although displacement of American black bears by brown bears has been documented, actual interspecific killing of American black bears by brown bears has only occasionally been reported. Confrontation is mostly avoided due to the American black bear's diurnal habits and preference for heavily forested areas, as opposed to the brown bear's largely nocturnal habits and preference for open spaces. Where they do not live in close proximity to grizzly bears, and especially where found near human habitations, American black bears may become, to a larger extent, nocturnal. Brown bears may also kill Asian black bears, though the latter species probably largely avoids conflicts with the brown bear due to similar habits and habitat preferences to the American black species. Brown bears will eat the fruit dropped from trees by the Asian black bear, as they themselves are too large and cumbersome to climb. Improbably, in the Himalayas, brown bears are reportedly intimidated by Asian black bears in confrontations. However, the Himalayan black bears are reportedly more aggressive towards humans than the Himalayan brown bear, and the latter is one of the smaller types of brown bear, though still somewhat larger than the Asian black bear. In Siberia, the opposite is true, and Asian black bears are not known to attack people, but brown bears are. Both species of black bear seem to be most vulnerable to predatory attacks by brown bears when the latter species leaves hibernation sooner in early spring and ambushes the smaller ursids in their dens.
Sloth bear
The sloth bear ("Melursus ursinus") is an insectivorous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation.
It has also been called labiated bear because of its long lower lip and palate used for sucking insects. Compared to brown and black bears, the sloth bear is lankier, has a long, shaggy fur and a mane around the face, and long, sickle-shaped claws.
It evolved from the ancestral brown bear during the Pleistocene and through convergent evolution shares features found in insect-eating mammals.
Formosan black bear
The Formosan black bear (臺灣黑熊, "Ursus thibetanus formosanus"), also known as the white-throated bear, is a subspecies of the Asiatic black bear. Formosan black bears are endemic to Taiwan. In 2001, they were voted the most representative wildlife of Taiwan in a half-year-long countrywide voting campaign. They are also the largest land animals and the only native bears ("Ursidae") in Taiwan.
Animals Asia Foundation
In February 2009, Animals Asia rescued a dozen malnourished, diseased Asiatic black bears from bile-harvesting farms in southwest China. The bears were given to Animals Asia under an agreement made in 2000 with the government to save sick bears from state and illegal farms. The animals went to the foundation's Moon Bear Rescue Center outside Chengdu, which has handled hundreds of bears since the agreement was signed.
Wildlife of Alaska
The black bear is much smaller than the brown bear. They are found in larger numbers on the mainland of Alaska, but are not found on the islands off of the Gulf of Alaska and the Seward Peninsula. Black bears have been seen in Alaska in a few different shades of colors such as black, brown, cinnamon, and even a rare blue shade. They are widely scattered over Alaska, and pose more of a problem to humans because they come in close contact with them on a regular basis. They are considered a nuisance because they frequently stroll through local towns, camps, backyards, and streets because of their curiosity and easy food sources such as garbage. While black bear attacks are exceedingly rare, they can pose a risk to public safety when food conditioned and habituated to humans due to an availability of human food sources. As many as 100,000 black bears live in Alaska.
Sun bear
"Helarctos malayanus" has been listed on CITES Appendix I since 1979. Killing of sun bears is strictly prohibited under national wildlife protection laws throughout their range. However, little enforcement of these laws occurs.
Alaska Peninsula brown bear
Alaska Peninsula brown bears are a very large brown bear subspecies, usually ranging in weight from 800 to 1,200 pounds (363 to 544 kg). They are found in high densities along the southern Alaskan coast due not only to the large amount of clams and sedge grass but also to the annual salmon runs; this allows them to attain huge sizes, some of the biggest in the world. They may gather in large numbers at feeding sites, such as Brooks Falls and McNeil Falls, both in Katmai National Park near King Salmon.
Alaska Peninsula brown bear
There is debate as to if Alaska Peninsula brown bears should be referred to as "grizzlies" along with all other North American subspecies of the brown bear. There is confusion experienced when referring to inland and coastal ones separately, but biologists still maintain that coastal ones are truly brown bears. However, it is considered correct to place all North American members of "U. arctos" in the subspecies "horribilis" except the giant Kodiak bears of Kodiak Island. To avoid confusion, many simply refer to all North American members, including Kodiaks, as "grizzly bears."
Asian black bear
In Korea, most of the black bears live in the broad-leaved forest of the alpine region, more than 1,500 meters north of Jirisan. Korean National Park Service announced on April 15, 2018 that eight mother bears gave birth to eleven babies. Six mother bears living in the wild gave birth to eight babies. Two mothers that were being taken care by the nature adaptation training center in Gurye, South Jeolla Province gave birth to three babies. Now there are 56 black bears living in the wild of Jirisan. If the Korea National Park Service release three cubs born in natural adaptation training centers at September this year, the number of black bears living in the wild will increase to 59. As a result, the restoration of the target of 50 black bears, or the minimum remaining population, will be achieved two years earlier. It was a goal by 2020. Their next goal is to expand and improve the habitat and to increase the genetic diversity of the black bears in Mt. Jiri
South East Asian Zoos Association
The Convention on International Trade of Endangered species CITES 
regulates all animal trade, rescue and reintroduction into the wild on the global level. However many countries in Southeast Asia view this agreement as a secondary concern. Most policies in Southeast Asia focus on the conservation of entire ecosystems and little on specific species that are endangered. Because Southeast Asia nations lack the resources to support both imperatives, SEAZA has a hard time enforcing the regulations of CITES prohibiting exhibiting some animals illegally and controlling the exportation of native species such as sun bears. 
Due to SEAZA’s inability to regulate some species, many private internationally conservations and organizations have stepped in for the protection and preservation of specific species such as Malaysian sun bear. The Ho Chi Minh City Zoo has a partnership with the Cologne Zoo in Germany. The Cologne Zoo works with SEAZA to conserve insect and reptile species, as well as working with Malaysia to rehabilitate the Malaysian sun bear species. In fact the Malaysian sun bear studbook is at the Cologne Zoo.
Brown bear
Brown bears seldom attack humans on sight and usually avoid people. In Russia, it is estimated that one in 1,000 on-foot encounters with brown bears results in an attack. They are, however, unpredictable in temperament, and may attack if they are surprised or feel threatened. Despite the low rate of attack, they appear to be the most dangerous northern carnivoran to humans, attacking more people on average annually than American black bears or northern populations of Asian black bears and Siberian tigers, cougars or gray wolves. Several large carnivorans from tropical regions of Africa and Asia may be more dangerous to humans than brown bears, including other ursids such as the sloth bear and Indian populations of the Asian black bear. Each of the latter species of bear may kill up to 12 people annually in certain Indian districts, about as many in a relatively small area as all of the world's brown bears combined. The high levels of human-directed aggression in these ursine bears is reportedly their evolution with once-large numbers of predatory Bengal tigers (arguably itself the world's most dangerous carnivoran to humans even with its extreme decline in modern times, being statistically much more likely to attack than their northern Siberian cousins) and a very large human population, increasing the risk of surprising and angering a defensive Asian black or sloth bear, the latter species often charging aggressively rather than fleeing if a surprise encounter occurs, as do most other bear species.
List of mammals of Wyoming
The American black bear ("Ursus americanus") is North America's smallest and most common species of bear. It is a generalist animal, being able to exploit numerous different habitats and foodstuffs. The American black bear is listed by the IUCN as Least Concern, due to the species widespread distribution and a large global population estimated to be twice that of all other bear species combined.
Asian black bear
The book also describes a second method of black bear hunting involving the beating of small patches of forest, when the bears march out in single file. However, black bears were rarely hunted for sport, because of the poor quality of their fur and the ease by which they could be shot in trees, or stalked, as their hearing was poor.
Sun bear
The sun bear is also known as the "honey bear", which refers to its voracious appetite for honeycombs and honey. However, "honey bear" can also refer to a kinkajou, which is an unrelated member of the Procyonidae.
Brown bear
Brown bears are often not fully brown. They have long, thick fur, with a moderately long mane at the back of the neck which varies somewhat across the types. In India, brown bears can be reddish with silver-tipped hairs, while in China brown bears are bicolored, with a yellowish-brown or whitish collar across the neck, chest and shoulders. Even within well-defined subspecies, individuals may show highly variable hues of brown. North American grizzlies can be dark brown (almost black) to cream (almost white) or yellowish-brown and often have darker-colored legs. The common name "grizzly" stems from their typical coloration, with the hairs on their back usually being brownish-black at the base and whitish-cream at the tips, giving them their distinctive "grizzled" color. Apart from the cinnamon variation of the American black bear ("U. americanus cinnamonum"), the brown bear is the only modern bear species to typically appear truly brown. The winter fur is very thick and long, especially in northern subspecies, and can reach at the withers. The winter hairs are thin, yet rough to the touch. The summer fur is much shorter and sparser and its length and density varies geographically.
American black bear
Generally, American black bears are largely crepuscular in foraging activity, though they may actively feed at any time. Up to 85% of the American black bear's diet consists of vegetation, though they tend to dig less than brown bears, eating far fewer roots, bulbs, corms and tubers than the latter species. When initially emerging from hibernation, they will seek to feed on carrion from winter-killed animals and newborn ungulates. As the spring temperature warms, American black bears seek new shoots of many plant species, especially new grasses, wetland plants and forbs. Young shoots and buds from trees and shrubs during the spring period are also especially important to American black bears emerging from hibernation, as they assist in rebuilding muscle and strengthening the skeleton and are often the only digestible foods available at that time. During summer, the diet largely comprises fruits, especially berries and soft masts such as buds and drupes. During the autumn hyperphagia, feeding becomes virtually the full-time task of American black bears. Hard masts become the most important part of the American black bear's diet in autumn and may even partially dictate the species' distribution. Favored masts such as hazelnuts, oak acorns and whitebark pine nuts may be consumed by the hundreds each day by a single American black bear during the fall. During the fall period, American black bears may also habitually raid the nut caches of tree squirrels. Also extremely important in fall are berries such as huckleberries and buffalo berries. American black bears living in areas near human settlements or around a considerable influx of recreational human activity often come to rely on foods inadvertently provided by humans, especially during summertime. These include refuse, birdseed, agricultural products and honey from apiaries.
Brown bear
It is thought the Eurasian brown bears which colonized America were tundra-adapted (as many grizzlies are today in North America) and the species is sometimes found around sub-Arctic ice fields. This is indicated by brown bears in the Chukotka Peninsula on the Asian side of the Bering Strait, which are the only Asian brown bears to live year-round in lowland tundra like their North American cousins. Genetics relay that two separate radiations led to today's North American brown bears, one a coastal form that led to the Kodiak bear (from "U. a. beringianus" or a common ancestor) and one an interior form that led to the grizzly bear (from "U. a. lasiotus" or a common ancestor). In Arctic areas, the potential habitat of the brown bear is increasing. The warming of that region has allowed the species to move farther north into what was once exclusively the domain of the polar bear (potentially another offshoot of a radiation of coastal brown bears). In non-Arctic areas, habitat loss is blamed as the leading cause of endangerment, followed by hunting.
Sun bear
The sun bear is the smallest of the bear species. Adults are about long and weigh . Males are 10–20% larger than females. Their muzzles are short and light-coloured, and in most cases, the white area extends above the eyes. Their paws are large, and the soles are fur-less, which is thought to be an adaptation for climbing trees. Their claws are large, curved, and pointed. The sun bear's claws are sickle-shaped; the front paw claws are long and heavy. The tail is long.
Brown bear
The brown bear ("Ursus arctos") is a bear that is found across much of northern Eurasia and North America. In North America the population of brown bears are often called grizzly bears. It is one of the largest living terrestrial members of the order Carnivora, rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear ("Ursus maritimus"), which is much less variable in size and slightly larger on average.
Sun bear
Sun bears are found in the tropical rainforest of Southeast Asia ranging from northeastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam to southern Yunnan Province in China, and on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in Indonesia. They now occur very patchily through much of their former range, and have been extirpated from many areas, especially in mainland Southeast Asia. Their current distribution in eastern Myanmar and most of Yunnan is unknown.
The bear’s habitat is associated with tropical evergreen forests."Helarctos anmamiticus", described by Pierre Marie Heude in 1901 from Annam, is not considered a distinct species, but is subordinated (a junior synonym) to "H. m. malayanus".
Wellington Zoo
In May 2001, arrangements were made for Malayan sun bear Madu to be sent to the National Zoo in Australia but he died following surgery on a broken tooth. An autopsy revealed he had a hole in his heart. His twin, Arataki, was sent instead. Bakti died in August 2001, leaving the zoo without a breeding male. In September 2004, a seven-year-old male named Sean, arrived from Perth Zoo. He had been rescued as a cub from outside a restaurant in Cambodia by the Free the Bears Foundation. Chomel gave birth to a female cub in September 2006, named Sasa. At that time, Wellington Zoo was the only zoo in Australasia to successfully breed a sun bear. Chomel died in September 2009, following a stroke.
Bear
There is evidence of prehistoric bear worship, though this is disputed by archaeologists. The prehistoric Finns, Siberian peoples and more recently Koreans considered the bear as the spirit of their forefathers. There is evidence of bear worship in early Chinese and Ainu cultures. In many Native American cultures, the bear is a symbol of rebirth because of its hibernation and re-emergence. The image of the mother bear was prevalent throughout societies in North America and Eurasia, based on the female's devotion and protection of her cubs. Japanese folklore features the Onikuma, a "demon bear" that walks upright. The Ainu of northern Japan, a different people from the Japanese, saw the bear instead as sacred; Hirasawa Byozan painted a scene in documentary style of a bear sacrifice in an Ainu temple, complete with offerings to the dead animal's spirit.
American black bear
In most of the contiguous United States, American black bears today are usually found in heavily vegetated mountainous areas, from in elevation. For American black bears living in the American Southwest and Mexico, habitat usually consists of stands of chaparral and pinyon juniper woods. In this region, bears occasionally move to more open areas to feed on prickly pear cactus. At least two distinct, prime habitat types are inhabited in the Southeastern United States. American black bears in the southern Appalachian Mountains survive in predominantly oak-hickory and mixed mesophytic forests. In the coastal areas of the Southeast (such as Florida, the Carolinas and Louisiana), bears inhabit a mixture of flatwoods, bays and swampy hardwood sites.
Wildlife of China
Other more common bears in China include the Asiatic black bear and the brown bear which are found across much of the country. Sub-species of the brown bear include the Himalayan brown bear and the Tibetan blue bear in Tibet, and the Ussuri brown bear in Heilongjiang. The sun bear is found in Yunnan. Bears, especially black bears, are also raised in captivity to harvest their bile for use in traditional Chinese medicine.
Japanese black bear
The Japanese black bear ("Ursus thibetanus japonicus") is a subspecies of the Asian black bear that lives on three main islands of Japan: Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. There are said to be 10,000 black bears on Japan. The population of black bears on Shikoku and Kyushu may be endangered or extinct. There is a high price on bear parts in the black market, which threatens all bear populations in Japan. This particular species of bear are typically smaller with males only reaching and females only weighing about . Their body length is about long.
Asian black bear
In Japanese culture, the black bear is traditionally associated with the mountain spirit ("yama no kami") and is characterized variously as "mountain man" ("yamaotoko"), "mountain uncle" ("yama no ossan"), "mountain father" ("yama no oyaji"), a loving mother and a child. Being a largely solitary creature, the bear is also viewed as "lonely person" ("sabishigariya"). Black bears feature very little in lowland Japanese folklore, but are prominent in upland Japan, a fact thought to reflect the bear's greater economic value in upland areas. According to the local folklore in Kituarahara-gun in Niigata, the black bear received its white mark after being given a silk-wrapped amulet by "yama no kami", which left the mark after being removed.
In Hindu mythology, the black bear Jambavantha (also known as Jambavan or Jamvanta) is believed to have lived from Treta Yuga to Dvapara Yuga. In the epic "Ramayana", Jambavantha assists Rama in finding his wife Sita and battle her abductor, Ravana.
Asian black bear
Five black bear populations, occurring in Kyushu, Shikoku, West-Chugoku, East-Chugoku and Kii areas, were listed as endangered by the Environmental Agency in the Japanese Red Data Book in 1991. Small isolated populations in the Tanzawa and Shimokita areas of mainland Honshū were listed as endangered in 1995. Beyond recognising these populations as endangered, there is still a lack of efficient conservation methods for Japanese black bears.
Asian black bear
Black bears will prey on livestock if their natural food is in poor supply. They have been known to attack bullocks, either killing them outright, or eating them alive.
Ursid hybrid
Hybrids have been produced between the sloth bear ("Melursus ursinus") and the Malayan sun bear ("Helarctos malayanus") at Tama Zoo in Tokyo, and also between the sloth bear ("Melursus ursinus") and the Asiatic black bear ("Ursus thibetanus", or "Selenarctos thibetanus").
Asian black bear
Asiatic black bears are omnivorous, and will feed on insects, beetle larvae, invertebrates, termites, grubs, carrion, bees, eggs, garbage, mushrooms, grasses, fruits, nuts, seeds, honey, herbs, acorns, cherries, dogwood, and grain. Although herbivorous to a greater degree than brown bears, and more carnivorous than American black bears, Asiatic black bears are not as specialized in their diet as pandas are: while pandas depend on a constant supply of low calorie, yet abundant foodstuffs, black bears are more opportunistic and have opted for a nutritional boom-or-bust economy. They thus gorge themselves on a variety of seasonal high calorie foods, storing the excess calories as fat, and then hibernate during times of scarcity. Black bears will eat pine nuts and acorns of the previous year in the April–May period. In times of scarcity, they enter river valleys to gain access to hazelnuts and insect larvae in rotting logs. From mid-May through late June, they will supplement their diet with green vegetation and fruit. Through July to September, they will climb trees to eat bird cherries, pine cones, vines and grapes. On rare occasions they will eat dead fish during the spawning season, though this constitutes a much lesser portion of their diet than in brown bears. In the 1970s, black bears were reported to kill and eat Hanuman langurs in Nepal. They appear to be more carnivorous than most other bears, including American black bears, and will kill ungulates with some regularity, including domestic livestock. Wild ungulate prey can include muntjacs, serow, takin, wild boar and adult water buffaloes, which they kill by breaking their necks.
Glacier bear
The glacier bear ("Ursus americanus emmonsii"), sometimes referred to as the blue bear, is a subspecies of American black bear with silver-blue or gray hair endemic to Southeast Alaska. Little scientific knowledge exists of their total extent and the cause of their unique coloration. Most of the other black bears in southeast Alaska are listed under the subspecies "Ursus americanus pugnax".
The USDA Forest Service lists" U. a. emmonsii" as one of several subspecies of black bears, although no evidence supports the subspecies designation other than hair coloration.
ABC Islands bear
This subspecies of brown bear retains all of the physical attributes and behavior associated with the brown bear, however, they do carry mitochondrial DNA that shows a match closer to polar bears than brown bears.
ABC Islands bear
The ABC Islands bear ("Ursus arctos sitkensis") or Sitka brown bear is a subspecies of brown bear that resides in Southeast Alaska and is found on Admiralty Island, Baranof Island, and Chichagof Island of Alaska. These islands have the colloquial name of the ABC Islands and are a part of the Alexander Archipelago. This brown bear population has a unique genetic structure, which relates them not only to brown bears but to polar bears as well. "Ursus arctos sitkensis" habitat exists within the Tongass National Forest, which is part of the perhumid rainforest zone.
Sangu Matamuhari
The wildlife sanctuary was once covered with luxuriant multi-storied evergreen forest. The Asian elephant herds used to roam in and around the sanctuary. However, due to settlement of refuge, the vegetation of these areas diminished and became uninhabitable for elephants, which now can be seen in Sangu Mouza only. Asian black bear is the most common bear species in the area but still low numbered. Second bear species of the area is Sun bear Other large mammal sambar deer are also been reported here but in lower numbers. Just recent camera trap project captured some clouded leopard photos. Endangered species great hornbill are still seen flying in the sanctuary. There are some spotted owlet as well.
American black bear
Despite living in North America, American black bears are not closely related to brown bears and polar bears; genetic studies reveal that they split from a common ancestor 5.05 million years ago (mya). American and Asian black bears are considered sister taxa and are more closely related to each other than to the other modern species of bears. According to recent studies, the sun bear is also a relatively recent split from this lineage.
Baluchistan black bear
The Baluchistan black bear ("Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus"), also called the Pakistan black bear is a subspecies of the Asian black bear occurring in the Baluchistan Mountains of southern Pakistan and Iran. It has an unusually thin coat for an Asian black bear, but this is because it is found in a warmer climate than most of the other subspecies, which are found in the much colder Himalayan Mountains. It is also more frugivorous than the other subspecies, and it loves to eat figs and bananas.
Brown bear
The normal range of physical dimensions for a brown bear is a head-and-body length of and a shoulder height of . The tail is relatively short, as in all bears, ranging from in length. The smallest brown bears, females during spring among barren-ground populations, can weigh so little as to roughly match the body mass of males of the smallest living bear species, the sun bear ("Helarctos malayanus"), while the largest coastal populations attain sizes broadly similar to those of the largest living bear species, the polar bear. Interior brown bears are generally smaller than is often perceived, being around the same weight as an average lion, at an estimate average of in males and in females, whereas adults of the coastal populations weigh about twice as much. The average weight of adult male bears from 19 populations, from around the world and various subspecies (including both large- and small-bodied subspecies), was found to while adult females from 24 populations were found to average .
Asian black bear
In Taiwan, black bears are not actively pursued, though steel traps set out for wild boars have been responsible for unintentional bear trappings. Timber harvesting has largely stopped being a major threat to Taiwan's black bear population, though a new policy concerning the transfer of ownership of hill land from the government to private interests has the potential to affect some lowland habitat, particularly in the eastern part of the nation. The building of new cross island highways through bear habitat is also potentially threatening.
Asian black bear
On average, adult Asiatic black bears are slightly smaller than American black bears, though large males can exceed the size of several other bear species.
Asian black bear
Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh conducted an on field survey of bears in Bangladesh from 2008–2010 that included Asiatic black Bears. The survey was done in 87 different places mostly in north-central, north eastern and south eastern area of Bangladesh that had historical presence of bears. The survey result says that most of the areas still has some isolated small bear populations mainly the Asiatic black bears. According to the survey the most evidence found relating bears were of Asiatic black bears that included nests, footprints, local sighting etc. There are many reports on the presence of Asiatic black bears in central, north-central, north eastern and south eastern parts of Bangladesh.
American black bear
The ancestors of American black bears and Asian black bears diverged from sun bears 4.58 mya. The American black bear then split from the Asian black bear 4.08 mya. The earliest American black bear fossils, which were located in Port Kennedy, Pennsylvania, greatly resemble the Asian species, though later specimens grew to sizes comparable to grizzly bears. From the Holocene to the present, American black bears seem to have shrunk in size, but this has been disputed because of problems with dating these fossil specimens.
Asian black bear
The famed British sportsman known as the "Old Shekarry" wrote of how a black bear he shot in India probably weighed no less than based on how many people it took to lift its body. The largest Asiatic black bear on record allegedly weighed . Zoo-kept specimens can weigh up to . Although their senses are more acute than those of brown bears, their eyesight is poor, and their hearing range is moderate, the upper limit being 30 kHz.
Bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere and partially in the Southern Hemisphere. Bears are found on the continents of North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Common characteristics of modern bears include large bodies with stocky legs, long snouts, small rounded ears, shaggy hair, plantigrade paws with five nonretractile claws, and short tails.
American black bear
The American black bear ("Ursus americanus") is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in search of food. Sometimes they become attracted to human communities because of the immediate availability of food. The American black bear is the world's most common bear species.