Meet the bears There are eight different species of bear living in the world. We bears don’t all live in one place. We just got together today to help make this book. Brown bear Sloth bear (there are quite a Giant panda American black bear Asiatic black bear Spectacled bear Polar bear Sun bear few different types (I’m a bear too!) (I live in North (I live in Asia) of brown bear) America) 4 5 American black Most American black bears go into a Ursus americanus deep kind of sleep for long stretches bears of time over winter. This is called American black bears live in hibernation. They make dens in caves, North America. With a population of burrows and other sheltered spots, using around 850,000, they are the most leaves to make them comfy and cosy. common species of bear on the planet. There are at least 16 different PLEASE DO subspecies of American black bear. NOT FEED Most are black in colour, like this one… American black bears usually THE BEARS eat grasses, fruit and nuts, but they will eat most things that they can get This could be a good their paws on. …but others are spot for a long nap! not black at all. Like these: Bears living on national parks have learnt that campsites are a GLACIER BEAR good place to find food. They are Ursus americanus often spotted helping themselves emmonsii to snacks if they can find them. Sometimes called the blue bear because of their grey or silvery-blue fur, these bears are extremely rare and only live in Alaska. KERMODE BEAR HOW DO THEY SIZE UP? Ursus americanus kermodei Kermode bears look like small polar American black 3m bears, but they are actually a rare, bears can reach creamy-coloured subspecies of American 2 metres tall and black bear. Sometimes called weigh more than adult female (sow) adult male (boar) spirit bears, 250 kilograms. 2m CUB they live They are the third in British biggest species Columbia, of bear, coming 1m Canada. in behind the polar bear and the brown bear. 6 7 Sun bears are a shy species Their small size (which is great Sun bears of bear and they like to for climbing) and their long Helarctos malayanus spend their time hidden tongues mean they’re perfectly away in trees eating honey. suited for this pastime. There are fewer than 10,000 sun bears in the world, and they Or you can become live in the tropical rainforests a beekeeper and of Southeast Asia. make your own! If you don’t want to climb a tree, you can Sun bears have short fur so that pick up a jar of honey they can stay cool in hot weather in the supermarket. and they have long, curved claws that are perfect for sticking into tight spots to reach honey and other tasty food. Their super-long tongues help them to extract honey from beehives. This special skill, and their love of honey, has given them the nickname of the honey bear. 25cm How do they size up? BEES At around 1.4 metres 3m tall, sun bears are the world’s smallest species of bear. 2m They weigh up to adult female (sow) adult male (boar) 80 kilograms. That’s less than CUB Sun bears get their more half as heavy as an 1m common name from American black bear. the sun-shaped, yellow marking on their chests. 12 13 Ailuropoda melanoleuca Giant pandas love to eat Giant pandas bamboo. They live in thick bamboo forests so that they At least 12 hours of a can be surrounded by their giant panda’s day are spent Giant pandas are bears too! They live in chewing on bamboo stems. cold, wet bamboo forests in the mountains favourite food. of central China. Today there are probably fewer than 2,000 left in the wild. They are the rarest of all the bears. Their famous black and white fur makes giant pandas easy to recognize. We like to do other things too, like playing hide-and-seek! There is a subspecies of the giant panda called the Qinling panda. It is smaller than the giant panda and it has brown and white fur, rather than black and white. How do they size up? The red panda and the giant panda both have a big appetite One of the smaller 3m for bamboo, but they do not belong to bear species, giant the same family. The red panda is more pandas grow to closely related to raccoons around 1.8 metres. adult male (boar) than to bears. 2m A big male can adult female (sow) weigh more than 120 kilograms, 1m about half the CUB weight of a big American black bear. 16 17 Spectacled bears Tremarctos ornatus Spectacled bears are the only bears acled bears get that are native to South America. Spect ...or for disguise! their name from the There are fewer than 20,000 of spectacle-shaped markings these bears in the wild. around their eyes. They mainly live in the Andes Mountains, which is why they are Not because we often known as the Andean bear. wear specs for reading... The spectacled bear is the only short-faced bear living today. The other seven species of bear have longer noses. ...or to look cool Their snout is quite flat Between 500,000 and 2 million years ago, an ancestor of today’s spectacled bear roamed the planet. The giant short-faced bear (Arctotherium angustidens) stood at a whopping 3.3 metres tall! Can you name a famous bear from South America? How do they size up? 3m Spectacled bears can reach 2 metres in height. Adult adult female (sow) adult male (boar) males weigh up 2m WantedVoyage on to 200 kilograms, which is roughly CUB fragile twice as heavy as 1m the females. 18 19 Polar bears love to eat seals and, Polar bears unfortunately for the seals, they are Ursus maritimus very good at catching them. The bears wait by the edge of the water, or Polar bears live in the Arctic, above holes in the ice, and then pounce a cold, icy place that surrounds when a seal appears. the North Pole. There are around You could try 20,000 polar bears in the wild and searching for seals they are mostly found in parts of with a snorkel. Canada, Greenland, Russia, Norway and Alaska in the USA. Polar bears are amazingly well adapted to their chilly surroundings. Thick white fur for staying warm and for blending in with their snowy Incredible environment. This helps the sense of smell bears get close to their for tracking prey without being seen. prey over long distances. They are very patient animals and can wait for hours and hours at a time. Polar bears are great at sneaking up on their prey. Their long necks also give them a good view above the water while they swim. How do they size up? Reaching a great adult male (boar) height of over 3 metres and weighing 3m adult female (sow) up to 700 kilograms, Very large feet (up to polar bears are not 30 centimetres wide!) for only the biggest of all walking on snow and ice, 2m of the bear species, CUB and for speedy swimming. Underneath their but they’re also the Their feet even have fur fur, polar bears largest meat-eating on the bottom to keep out actually have animal on land. An 1m the cold and their paw black skin. This adult male polar bear pads are covered in absorbs sunlight can weigh up to ten small bumps to give and keeps them times as much as a them extra grip. feeling warm sun bear! and cosy. 20 21 Eating Bears find food in all sorts of places and what One thing that all they eat depends on where they live, what time bears have in common of year it is and what they can get their paws on. Polar bears have is their love of food. But most bears have a favourite dish… a taste for seals. Don’t tell the seals! Brown bears are Spectacled bears particularly fond of love wild fruit and American black salmon and berries. nuts. In zoos, they bears like to eat But not necessarily are especially keen grasses, berries at the same time. on oranges. Sun bears prefer and nuts. all things honey- flavoured, including honeycomb, bees Sloth bears like a and, best of all, range of different foods, Asiatic black honey itself. including fruit, insects and eggs, but their real bears also like favourite is lots and lots fruit, and a side of termites. plate of insects Panda bears just is always a love bamboo – bonus! they can eat for hours on end and they never get bored of it. HONEY 22 23 Running Over short distances, the brown bear and the American Bears don’t often run a long way. They But when they do run, some black bear are both super usually save running for when they are can be extremely fast! trying to get away from predators or speedy. They can run much they want to scare another animal. faster than a human. brown bear American black bear spectacled bear giant panda The giant panda and the sloth bear are reluctant runners. They’d polar bear usually rather take their time and walk instead! sun bear Asiatic black bear sloth bear 28 29.