List of Facts about Bear Species (Fun Photos and Educational Video)

Bears are incredibly powerful animals with unusual characteristics and habits, which they make them unique and interesting for every person – young or adult. We have put together a list of interesting facts about bears that every person should know and later share these educational things.

Before we start, please take a look at this video presentation.



Bears: 7 Facts about Wild Predators (Grizzly, Brown and Polar Bear)

#1. The spirit bear

Kermode bear (Ursus americanus kermodei) is a subspecies of American black bear, which may be found near the west coast of Canada. Approximately 10% of this animal’s population has white or cream-colored fur, like that of a #polar bear’s.

But Kermode bears are not any more related to polar bears than other members of their species, nor are they albinos. Such coloring is a manifestation of a double recessive gene unique in the subspecies.

Moreover, recent research has proved that individuals with white fur are less visible to the fish, thus making them more efficient hunters.

#2. Clumsy but surprisingly fast

Although, at a first sight, bears may seem clumsy, these animals, in fact, don’t experience any problems with coordination and are known as quick runners. The brown bear, for example, has an average running speed of 55 kilometers per hour (34 mph). The American black bears are not much slower with their running speeds averaging at 25–30 mph (40–50 km/h).

#3. The slowest shark and a nightmare for any polar bear

A shark species with the northernmost habitat, Greenland shark, is known as one of the slowest predators, as its swimming speed is less than 2 km/h (1.24 miles per hour).

But at the same time this sneaky predator is known to prey on much faster seals, which reluctantly fall asleep in the water. The seals are known to stay in the water in order to escape the attacks of polar bears, but instead become victims of sharks.
But in some cases polar bears are not the strongest predators in the region – some Greenland sharks, which were caught by fishermen, were found with the remains on polar bears in their stomachs.

#4. Places of habitat

Brown bears choose mixed forests as their main habitat and such regions are not very suitable for modern human. These animals prefer to live and hunt on small islands of land, which are surrounded by trackless bogs and impassable windbreaks.

Most species of bears try to steer clear of humans and their places of residence, unless the animals are forced to do so due to lack of food and space, as a result, due to such solitary lifestyle, finding out new interesting facts about these wild animals is a huge undertaking for modern scientists.

#5. Teddy bear as one of the most popular toys of all time

The "Teddy Bear" toy, which was named after the 26th President of the United States, proved to be a big hit with young audience, so the American toy producers wanted to use the next elections to increase the number of sales of their products.

When William Taft was elected to be the 27th US president, toy producers created a new toy hero for the young audience – plush opossums named "Billy Possum".
Although the factories produced thousands of plush toys and launched a powerful campaign for their promotion, the interest towards Billy Possum lasted not more than a year and didn’t even come close to the popularity of Teddy Bear.

#6. Wojtek the Bear

Bears are extremely intelligent animals and the story of Wojtek the Bear fully prove this statement. His story took place in Iran during WW II, when the Polish Army found a lonely bear cub. The soldiers looked after the animal and got very attached to the bear, which they named Wojtek.

In order not to leave the animal behind, it was decided to bring the animal along and even enlist him to the 22nd Artillery Supply Company. The bear travelled all the way to Italy, where he even used his unmanly strength in the battle of Monte Cassino (he helped to unload ammunition). In order to express their gratitude towards Wojtek, the 22th Artillery Supply Company decided to put the bear on their emblem.

#7. Is a polar bear's fur hollow/transparent?

The skin of a #polar bear is black and the fur only seems white. The fur cover is made up by completely colorless hairs, where every hair looks like a hollow tube. The uneven surface of these tubes breaks down all the light and reflects it in various angles, and therefore creating an effect of the white color.

#8. Brown bear’s diet

The food preferences of a brown bear are exceptionally unusual: this huge and strong animal, which possesses a set of sharp fangs and impressive claws, is almost a full herbivore.

The bulk of a brown bear’s diet is made up by the shoots of young plants and succulent roots, ripe acorns, hazelnuts, berries and fruits. But these animals still posses the trails of a predator and usually prey on small rodents, snails, frogs and so on. Although this bear species do not usually attack other adult herbivores animals, they sometimes prey on their cubs.

Other quick facts to know about bears:

- It is scientifically proven that the list of distant animal relatives the bears is made up by #wolves, dogs, coyotes and #foxes.

 - Grizzly bears are exceptionally fast and can even outrun many horses at short distances (50-100 meters). After long winters, when Indian ponies are tired out by harsh weather conditions, they become the prey of Grizzly bears.

- Alongside certain types of monkeys, the bears are the only animals, which are capable of throwing and catching a variety of subjects to each other.

- Even the most experienced hunters are amazed with the intelligence of the bears. These animals are known to mask traces in order to confuse the followers by walking backwards and even enter their dens in such a fashion. Even the captive-born bears manifest their cunning and malice - they can suddenly take revenge on a person, after a long-standing grudge.

- All bears species, apart from polar bears (only pregnant females hibernate) and #pandas, hibernate during the winters. During the hibernation animals loose 30-50% of total body mass.

 - Bears possess a universal digestive system, which is adapted to the processing the food of both vegetable and animal origin.

 - Bear’s liver is extremely rich in vitamin A. The concentration of this vitamin is so high that if a person ate it, it would lead to an immediate death.

 - Some of brown bear subspecies were hunted to extinction and some of them are listed as highly endangered or critically endangered, as, for example, the Himalayan brown bear.

- The hind legs of a brown bear are a little longer than the front, so it is much easier and faster for an animal to climb uphill than to go or run down the slope.

Image credits:

1) www.2.bp.blogspot.com/-mVE8MaDrPZI/UROVbghzdaI/AAAAAAAAMoY/nrsCXiwx9UU/s1600/background-of-a-big-bear-standing-up-in-the-river-hd-bear-wallpaper.jpg