Bears

Basic Bear Information:
   *There are eight species of bears found throughout the world.
   *Most bears live wild in the northern hemisphere.
   *Bears are found on all the earth’s continents except Africa, Australia and Antarctica.
   *Bears are omnivores that hunt and kill other animals for food.
   *Most bears can move quickly, swim, and climb trees.
   *Most kinds of bears live alone except for a few weeks during mating season.
   *Bears in the wild can live from 15-30 years.
   *Unless wounded or startled, bears rarely attack humans.
   *Fossilized remains of bears and bearlike animals date back to the Miocene epoch.
   *The biggest bear is the Alaskan Brown (Kodiak) Bear.
   *The smallest bear is the (Malayan) Sun Bear.
   *A bear’s feet are plantigrade, the claws are non retractable.
   *Where the winters are cold, bears hibernate in a sheltered spot or cave.
   *The most common bear in North America is the black bear found in wooded and mountainous regions from parts of Canada to Mexico City.
   *The polar bear, sometimes called the ice bear, is the only marine bear.
   *Polar bears are the most carnivorous of all the bears.