29.03.2024

What are the different types of bears and their way of life

Bears are powerful carnivores with thick paws with curved claws down. During the walk they step on the whole foot, what is called “plantigrade”.

The maximum speed that can develop the predator – fifty kilometers per hour.

The characteristics of the different types of bears

According to studies, on Earth, these predatory animals appeared about five or six million years ago.

Now scientists have isolated 8 species in the bear family:

  • brown bear,
  • Himalayan,
  • the giant Panda,
  • polar bear,
  • sloth bear,
  • baribal,
  • spectacle,
  • Malay.

All kinds of these predators have their own diet. For example, the polar bear consumes exclusively meat, the Panda consumes only plants while others eat and berries and fruits, plants, insects, and meat.

All bears have a monotonous appearance, with nearly identical dimensions and similar structure. Bears are the largest mammals predatory animals living on earth.

Popular brown bear

It is the most abundant speciesbecause it can adapt to completely different conditions and places of residence. They can be found in desert and mountainous terrain, dense forest and even below the Arctic circle. In ancient times, these bears lived in Japan, but now the species has completely disappeared from the Country of the rising sun.

Such few bears in the Western and Central parts of Europe to meet them only in mountainous areas. Scientists seriously think that there the species is on the verge of extinction. But in the Far East and Siberia, brown bears live happily ever after because a large variety of food.

Due to the large area of their habitat, these bears have acquired numerous subspecies that differ in appearance and size. Weight representatives of the different subspecies of brown bears starts from hundred pounds and can even reach one ton.

Subspecies of this species are large predators include:

  • Ussuriysk and Kamchatka bears
  • American grizzly bear
  • European brown bears.

Colouring of wool of this type of bear varies from light fawn color to a very dark brown. The body length of these clumsy animals is in the range of 200-280 cm.

Brown predators lead a sedentary lifestyle, the land on which resides one bear, stretched for tens of kilometers. However, the boundaries of their “possessions” beast is not very guards, but in this area there are places where a predator looking for food and making dens, and other animals immediately suppressed by the host.

In winter bears hibernate. By the time the den, hidden from prying eyes in the poorly passable place, should be furnished. This bear puts on her bottom with moss or dry grass. Before hibernation, the bear needs to gain at least fifty pounds of subcutaneous fat. To achieve this, the bear needs to consume about seven hundred pounds of various berries and about five hundred pounds of pine nuts. And all this in addition to other types of food.

Bear’s diet is mainly berries, nuts, fruits, roots and crops. Sometimes in their menu, the ants, insects and their larvae, small rodents. Males can also catch a small ungulates that live in the forest.

A dream of a brown bear during hibernation quite a bit, but waking it is not worth it, because “not enough sleep” the bear poses a great threat. During hibernation as cardiac and respiratory activity toed predator slowed down several times, breaks between inhales and exhales can be up to 4 minutes. Drops and body temperature, it is in the range of 29-34 degrees. This condition allows the predator conserve fat reserves.

Dangerous black bear

This species of bear is also called the Asian black bear. The size of the Asiatic black bear is somewhat smaller than brown, and by building it thinner. He has a more graceful figure, a little elongated muzzle and large ears. Inhabits this species of carnivores in a mountain area and hilly areas of Eastern Asia, from the terrible Iran is welcome to Japan. Meet Asian bear in Indochina, the southern Himalayas, Afghanistan. In Russia, this species of bears can be seen only in the Ussuri Krai, Amur river, in the Northern region.

Asiatic black bears are jet black with a white or yellowish spot on the chest, scalp they have a thick in the head and neck hair is longer and is slightly raised, forming a sort of mane. Their species can reach a length of 170 centimeters, their maximum weight is 140 pounds. Mostly, these bears are arboreal, so their claws are strong and sharp, making them well cling to the branches.

The basis of the power of the Himalayan representative of the family bear – plants. In the summer he eats fresh grass, bulbs of plants, roots, berries, and insects. In the spring in its diet is dominated by pine nuts and remaining on the ground from last year acorns. These bears – large sweet tooth and will never refuse to eat honey from wild bees, or to make a RAID on the apiary. Sometimes the diet of Asian bear is enriched with meat of ungulates, rodents and amphibians.

This kind of clumsy predators is dangerous for people because these bears are very bold, can compete for the prey, and with a Bengal tiger, and leopard. In Asian countries, there have been many cases of attacks Himalayan bears on livestock.

Cute big Panda

Pandas live in forests of Central and Western China and are under state protection, because they have small population. The birth of each new Panda is fixed and is considered a joyous event.

These bears have an interesting black-and-white coat, at length they reach 120 cm, maximum weight – 160 kg. They have a dense body with a large head, they have short legs with small claws. A lot of time, scientists have argued about what the family “to determine the” Panda – bear, or raccoon. But in many studies it was found that the structure of the body meets the Panda bear, although there are some features which are typical of raccoons.

Pandas are slow and pensive, so I prefer to live alone, however, in the spring for mating still closer to individuals of the opposite sex.

Pandas eat mostly fresh bamboo shoots can sometimes eat other plants or fish.

The mighty polar bear

The polar bear is the largest representative of the family bear. The weight of the specimens ranges from 300-800 pounds. Moreover, females can only reach 400 pounds, males are larger, and some of their representatives can weigh under a ton. The body length of this bear can be up to 3 meters.

Live white predators in the Northern hemisphere, and large specimens live near the Bering sea, and less outstanding – in Svalbard. These bears have longer hair compared to other species, and flat scull. Wool they are white, but sometimes in the sunlight it takes on a yellowish tone, the skin of polar bears is black.

The diet of this species of predators are almost no plant foods. The main “dish” in the menu of polar bears are seals, but they do not disdain and birds, walruses, rodents, whales that came ashore.

Polar bears represent a great danger for explorers. If other types of bears almost never attack people first, then their white counterparts can track someone.

Sloth bear – the inhabitant of tropical countries

The habitat of a bear-sloth is a wooded area of the island of Ceylon, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It’s slender appearance bears with long legs that are crowned with large and sharp claws. His hair is long, thick, black with a V-shaped white mark on his chest grows in different directions, so bear has a rather unkempt appearance. His face has a sharp, lips long and during the meal the bear puts his lips in such a way that you get different funny faces.

Sloth bear reaches a length of 180 centimeters, and its weight is in the range of 140 pounds. Day he prefers to sleep with very loud snoring, and him looking for food at night.

These bears eat mainly fruit trees and insects. In this insect it produces blowing from the bark of trees, and then strongly tightening them together with air in the mouth. To get insects and their larvae also help sharp claws, which the bear easily breaks rotten trees.

Black baribal

Living black in North America, Canada, Alaska, the Pacific and the Atlantic. Baribal is reminiscent of brown bear, but the coat he has a black muzzle more elongated and painted in yellowish color, the size is somewhat smaller than the brown counterpart. The American black bear body length of 180 centimeters and a weight in the area of 120-150 pounds.

This bear has long claws that allow him good for climbing trees. Black American eats only foods of plant origin, but there are in his diet and insects, their larvae, small vertebrates.

Spectacled bear: South American resident

This kind of clumsy predators lives in the highlands of the South American continent. Its body length reaches 170 centimeters and weight is in the range of 70-140 kg. In addition, this bears a big tail, its length is about 10 centimeters. Bear has a thick coat of black or black-brown color, and the muzzle is decorated with white spots that look like a bear wearing sunglasses.

Spectacled bears are listed as endangered, their population is scarce so the species studied pretty bad. This bear feeds exclusively on berries, herbs, fruits and roots. Live in dens, but maybe for a few days to settle on a tree, making there a special socket from bent themselves under the branches and feed on succulent leaves or fruits.

Small Malay bear

The smallest representative of the family bear is a Malayan sun bear, or biruang. Its body length reaches only 140 centimeters, and the weight within 65kg. Home “the kid” in Eastern India and on to Indonesia.

The wool of buruanga short, smooth, reminiscent of a plush black. The muzzle shortened and painted, or orange, or grey, on the chest there is a horseshoe-shaped mark orange or white shade. Paws are quite wide, and the nails are strong, have a curved shape.

Malayan sun bear is nocturnal, and the day quietly sleeping on the tree under the warm sun.

Food the bear eats it all:

  1. shoots of plants,
  2. fruit
  3. insects
  4. small rodents.

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