B is for Bears

Why bears? Because bears are one of my favorite animals!

I wanted to to bring something to your attention. I don't like the way bears are treated! They are killed for their fur, for food, and for fun. How is it fun leaving a baby bear without their mother? The cub will die without it's mommy unless people step in. This shouldn't have to happen! All animals are put here for a reason. You don't have to like them, but I think you should try to get along with them!

The biggest threats to bears today are other bears and people and climate change.

Different Kinds of Bears:

Pandas - Pandas are mainly found in China. They are on the brink of extinction because of people and because they rarely breed. I believe they are one of the most solitary species of bear. Pandas that are around today include the Giant Panda and Qinling Panda. http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/giantpanda/panda.html

Spectacled Bears - Spectacled Bear susually look like a mix of racoon and bear. Spectacled bears are also called Andean bears. They are native to South America. http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/specBear.html

Sun Bear- The Sun Bear is not hairless, bur rather has a thin coating of short fur. They are native to Southeast Asia. There is a very small subspecies native to Borneo called the Borneo Sunbear. They are a tad different looking then the other Sun Bears and are only native to Borneo. http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/

The Sloth Bear - The sloth bear is so named because of his sloth like claws. He is an insectivore, meaning he eats mostly insects.They are found in India and Sri Lanka . These are the only bears who's young ride on their back. http://www.squidoo.com/slothbears

The American Black Bear - This bear lives primarily in the United States and Canada. There are several subspecies of Black Bear. You can find out more in this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursus_americanus

The Brown Bear - The Brown Bear has many subspecies. The largest is the Eurasian Brown Bear. These are the bears you find in Mongolia. Then there is the Alaska Brown Bear, The Kamchatka Brown Bear (or Far Eastern Brown Bear) who you can find at Kamchatka in Russia and Paramushir Island,The Eastern Siberian Brown Bear, The Grizzly Bear (which is found in Western Canada, Alaska, and the Northwestern United States. At one time they existed in the Great Plains (http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Mammals/Grizzly-Bear.aspx) , The Himalayan Brown Bear (who almost looks like a cross between a dog and a teddy bear)-they are found in Nepal, Pakistan, and Northern India, Ussuri Brown Bear is found in the Russia particularly in the Southern Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, Maritime Territor, Ussuri/Amur River Region, in northeastern Heiogjiang, China as well as Hokkaido, Japan, The Kodiak Bear is found in Alaska, The Syrian Brown Bear lives in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, the Himalayas, the Pamir-Alai and the Tien Shan mountains-at one time they probably lived in Israel). You can find out more about these brown bears: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursus_arctos

There is a Grizzly-Polar bear hybrid called the prizzly, pizzly, or grolar bear. I like Prizzly myself. This bear is very rare.

Before I continue, I'd like to mention my bear friend Brutus. Brutus was rescued by Casey Andersen and Ami Otten Testa. Brutus became Casey's best friend, and won the hearts of many many people around the world. He was also Casey's best man at his wedding. He is a Grizzly bear. Huge, but cute, and very loving. Brutus teaches people all about grizzlies at Montana's Grizzly Encounter and on Expedition Grizzly which was put out by the NatGeo Wild.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmazingAnimals/story?id=7435525&page=1

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/content/expedition-grizzly-3909/brutus-and-me/album-01.html <--some pictures of Brutus from baby to bear-hood.

http://www.grizzlyencounter.com/ <--information on the Montana Grizzly Encounter. Please support them! They not only helped Brutus, but a lot of other bears as well.

Polar Bear- Polar Bears live largely in the arctic circle. They are all white and their feet are designed to help them keep traction on the ice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursus_maritimus

Asian Black Bear - This bear has a little white patch on his chest. The rest of him is black. They are found in southern Asia, Korea, northeastern China, the Russian far east, and two islands in Japan. http://a-z-animals.com/animals/asian-black-bear/

Despite what people think, Koalas are technically not bears. They are called bears because of their furry ears. However all bears are mammals. Koalas are marsupials.

For more information on bears :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear (sadly this included a long list of extinct bears too).

http://www.bears.org/

http://www.bearplanet.org/

I do not like this notion that bears are monsters. They aren't. They are more concerned with themselves then they are with you, and that is not conceit. That is just the way bears are. They are beautiful and majestic creatures! It is RARE for a bear to attack a person, let alone attack a person for no reason. Usual causes for bear attacks are people teasing the animal, they're eating, or they're cubs are around and they are protecting them. Not to mention, sometimes bears have bad days too.

My fascination with bears began when I was little. Mom and dad would show slide shows from when they went to Yellowstone and in them of course were BEARS! I'd shriek in happiness! I still make that same high pitched sound when I see bears anywhere. I have over 200 teddies and still going strong, but one day I would like to meet a trained bear. Who knows maybe one day I'll meet Brutus?