Da Bears

Da bears are a group of mammals residing in the family ursidae and exist all over the world, and in North America, are one of the most recognizable animals.

TAXONOMY

Taxonomy may appear to many as a complex and confusing way to classify animals – often hurting more than helping. But once you understand taxonomy it can boost your understanding of animals and their features. Traditionally, taxonomy is the classification of organisms that show their evolutionary order and are split into 7 categories – kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. This system was originally developed by Carolus Linnaeus in the mid-18th century and has been used to classify animals like bears, where their kingdom is animalia, phylum is chordata, class is mammalia, order is carnivora, suborder is caniformia (which includes dogs), family is ursidae… and then the species can vary quite a bit. The suborder is not official, yet is fascinating, revealing that man’s organizational mind can try its best to capture God’s creative mind, but has its limits. Finally, the subspecies is a level directly below species and is used only for populations that are biologically different but can interbreed.

Using taxonomy we can easily find the history of many different species such as the Kodiak bear which shares everything down to the subspecies category with its cousin, the Peninsular grizzly.

This means that the species, U. arctos otherwise known as the brown bear is the species of bear that envelops all of the subspecies (12, 2 extinct). Following the line, we can find that the brown and black bears split at the genus of Ursus. With this information we can dictate that the Kodiak, Kamchatka, Peninsular, Mexican and California bears were all part of the species of brown bear and are closely related to one another. Using genetic testing we can find out that the grizzly is also a subspecies of the brown bear, and is also the only brown bear to be found in North America. However, evidence shows that there were more species of grizzly- the extinct California grizzly and Mexican grizzly, which all belong to the species Ursus. 

VARIANCE

 Although diet varies from bear to bear, most commonly, bears rely on an omnivorous diet that can range from the polar bear’s seal

to the panda bear’s bamboo.

Bears can also come with many variations among certain species such as the polar bear which weighs an average of 1200 pounds and the sun bear with an average of 100 pounds. Additionally, there can be vast differences of color and appearance within bears such as the spirit bear, which wears an impressive majestical white and the cinnamon bear with a striking red.

  SUBSPECIES

The cinnamon bear is a cute bear that resembles a black bear dunked in cinnamon. With its red-brown fur it instantly awes many people with its beauty.

The most striking difference between a cinnamon bear and any other black bear is its brown or red-brown fur (reminiscent of cinnamon). A cinnamon bear is proposed to mimic a grizzly bear, a closely related ancestor which has been known to dominate most of North America. The glacier bear, or the blue bear, is a subspecies of the black bear and has a calm blue coat and is located in the northernmost part of North America.

Hibernation is commonly used by animals to sleep through the harsh months of winter by slowing down metabolism and hiding, avoiding others. The most famous species that do this are bears who are known to wake only in early spring. Without a doubt, the sleepiest bear is the black bear which often hibernates 5-7 months compared to a brown bear, which if in the right conditions, only hibernates a few weeks. When finding a place to hibernate, they often look out for dens or caves- around 4-10 feet deep to sleep. Before hibernation, bears go into a mode where they bulk up and gain up to 40% of their body weight. In some cases, bears can reach up to 1000 pounds, which is needed to fuel themselves during their long months without food.

GRIZZLIES

Across the unforgiving rivers of Alaska the grizzly bears are waiting for a feast as salmon swim upstream to spawn, with all bears from mothers and cubs to old seniors who stagger at over 9 feet tall, fighting over the best place in the river – right over a waterfall. When bears challenge each other, they fight ferociously just for the chance at some more prey.

Grizzly bears are often looked upon as on the fierce side of bears, often seen in rivers ferociously catching fish. With a staggering height of up to nine feet, they are definitely a sight to run from. But ignoring the stature of the grizzly, they typically do not attack unprovoked,  feasting on roots, berries, grasses, and forbs, or a type of flowering plant, instead of humans. The grizzly can be found all over North America where the larger bears tend to be found near the coast while smaller bears tend to be found more inland. 

In the past, the grizzly bear’s habitat had ranged from the most Northern part of Alaska to as far south as Mexico, and as far east as Hudson Bay. Currently, the grizzly bear can be found in most parts of western Canada and much of the northwestern United States, but has been seen as far north as Melville Island.

According to articles published in the past, grizzly bears may inhabit much of the tundra areas of the Ungava Peninsula and the northern tip of Labrador-Quebec. Although they are found in North America, they originally migrated from Eurasia using a land bridge during a glacial maximum, roughly 144,000 years ago. When European settlers first arrived, the grizzly bear population was approximately 25,000, but because of hunting and habitat loss, it has dropped down to the 15,000s. 

POLAR

In most parts of the world, food becomes scarce during winter. The northern Alaskan terrain is a stark opposite. When the climate grows cold and the sea starts to freeze, the seals migrate to colder areas for the ice which assists in pupping and resting. This also provides a supply of fresh food, such as fish or squids. Along with these necessities, they also bring another predator – the polar bear. While other bears are hibernating, the polar bear is out looking for food. The seals are good food – as they have lots of blubber which can provide needed energy to sometimes-starving polar bears.

Polar bears are most definitely the fiercest of bears who can get up to 1,800 pounds and reach up to 12 feet. Additionally, they have some of the strongest jaws in the world – almost ten times the average humans bite strength getting up to 1,200 PSI or 1,200 pounds per square inch. This is not their only strength, as they also are equipped with 2 inch long razor sharp claws to easily tear through any and all of their prey. In the freezing cold the polar bears need warmth, which is why they are coated in thick fur. What’s interesting is that the fur that appears white is actually transparent and hollow. They do this because the transparent fur scatters light which makes them appear white. The hollowness of their fur, on the other hand, is there to become a natural insulation, as the trapped air provides a barrier to the harsh winter.

BEHAVIOR

Bears are also vocal animals that can emit a wide variety of sounds to communicate with their kin. This can range from tongue-clicking, grunting or chuffing which mothers use to communicate with their cubs to warning sounds such as jaw-clicking and lip-popping to intimidate others. It can also be used in an aggressive manner such as bellows, growls, and roars to intimidate or scare off any challengers. Although vocalization between bears are mostly used as offensive tactics, cubs may squeal or scream when in a dangerous situation and hum and chortle when comfortable or feeling safe, or even bawl and bleat when sparring with a sibling.  

Although bears may communicate vocally, they most often prefer to express themselves using visual displays such as standing, which is their intimidation technique (for their normal mode of movement is on all fours). When asserting dominance, bears stare and lower their heads, challenging the other to a brawl. If the opposing side turns away or drops their head, they are openly submitting and avoiding confrontation with the challenger. Additionally, bears can also convey messages by leaving their scent on objects, clawing or biting the object, effectively marking their territory and their trail. They also urinate liberally to make sure others know they’re there, and that the smell is theirs. The technical name for this type of territory marking is micturation.  

In recent times, bears have become targeted by illegal traders, hunters and trappers that have driven 8 species to be endangered and are now at risk of extirpation. Because of recent movements, laws have been passed to protect bears from losing their habitat. Because of human perception of bears, there has been a push to conserve the bear population. For example, the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries, located in China, gained recognition from UNESCO and was awarded the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. Bears are looked upon by many as charismatic megafauna, which just means they are a large, popular animal species that are often used in conservation efforts to raise public awareness and funding.

In most of history, bears have often become targeted as entertainment. Many civilizations of the past have trained bears to dance and to bait, which is a practice where bears were put in a ring to fight one or more dogs as the audience watched. In some cases, instead of dogs, they threw people into the ring to watch as they tried to fight the bear. In other parts of the world, bears have been hunted for food and medicine. In Cantonese cuisine, bear paws are considered to be a delicacy. In modern times, it is still incorporated in many parts of eastern Asia where they use bears’ body parts and bile in traditional Chinese medicine, with an estimated 12,000 bears that are being kept in farms across Asia. In China, it is believed that bear bile can cure many eye and liver issues such as hepatitis and cirrhosis. Although the trade of bear products is prohibited under CITES, it is still found in shampoos, wine and herbal medicines sold all over the world, such as in Canada, the US, and Australia. Although it is very rare, it is still possible to find trace amounts of bear products, most often in things imported from Asia such as cosmetics and or soaps.