Bear

For other uses of the word "bear", please see Bear (disambiguation)

Bear Fossil range: Late Eocene - Recent
A Kodiak Brown Bear
Biological classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Suborder: Caniformia Family: Ursidae G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
Genera
Ailuropoda Helarctos Melursus Ursus Tremarctos Arctodus †

A Brown Bear.

Where bears live on the world.

A Polar Bear.

Bears are a group of large mammals. They form the family Ursidae, in the suborder Caniformia of the order Carnivora. There are 9 living bear species.

Taxonomy

• Family Ursidae: Bears
  • Giant Panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca
  • Spectacled Bear, Tremarctos ornatus
  • Brown Bear, Ursus arctos
  • Polar Bear, Ursus maritimus
  • American Black Bear, Ursus americanus
  • Asian Black Bear, Ursus thibetanus or Selenarctos thibetanus
  • Sloth Bear, Melursus ursinus
  • Sun Bear, Ursus malayanus

Appearance

Bears usually have a big body with short and thick legs. They only have a very short tail. They have small eyes and round ears. They usually have longer, shaggy fur. On each foot they have five claws, which they cannot pull back. They have very good senses of smell and hearing. They can stand up on their back legs. Usually bears can climb and swim very well.

Life

They are mostly active at night (except for the Polar Bear). Some bears hibernate, that means they sleep during the winter to save energy.

Bears are usually omnivorous, which means that they eat plants and meat. They eat berries, grass and fish. An exception is the polar bear, which eats mostly meat.

• short-faced bear