Many children’s stories have been turned into movies by Walt Disney. One such story is the classic compilation of novels by Rudyard Kipling called the Jungle Book. In the animated movie based on the book, a boy named Mowgli grows up in the jungles of India with wolves. Together with a black panther named Bagheera and the bear sloth Baloo, he fights for his life against an evil tiger named Shere Khan.
One of the main characters of the movie is the fun loving bear sloth Baloo. Bear sloths are very common in the Indian jungles, going also by the name of labiated bears. They are nocturnal insectivores, meaning they are most active at night and live off insects and other small, similar creatures. Many scientists have traced the bear sloth’s heritage to the brown bear. Unlike the black and brown bears however, a bear sloth has a lankier build. They have long, rough, shaggy coats, which form a mane around their neck. They also have claws that are sickle-shaped, make it easier for them to scoop out bugs, while their lower lips are specially adapted for sucking the insects out of their nets, thus making them very close to sloths. They feed during early spring through summer time and have their babies during the start of winter.
Bear sloths mostly live off honeybee colonies, fruits and termites. There are very few known bear sloth attacks on humans, but these bears can actually get very aggressive if provoked or if they are protecting their territory or cubs. Unfortunately, the bear sloth’s natural habitats have been drastically reduced by human development. Poachers and hunters have also reduced their population due to excessive hunting for their claws and baculum. Many have also captured these bears and placed them in circus and shows because they are very easy to tame.
Bears have taken a popular spot in a number of animated classic features and cartoons, with Yogi Bear and his ever-loyal sidekick Boo boo, being among the most famous and popular.
First appearing as a supporting character in the Hanna-Barbera produced The Huckleberry Hound Show in 1958, Yogi eventually got to have his own show which eventually came out with a string of supporting characters like Boo Boo, Cindy Bear and Ranger Smith.
In 2010, a real live/CGI feature Yogi Bear feature was produced, featuring the voice talents of Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake and Anna Faris. The movie, though featuring a more than 50 year old character, didn’t exactly become the Hollywood breakthrough which was expected to be.
To the tune of most cartoon personalities of the time, Yogi’s personality was based on the personality on the Ed Norton character of The Honeymooners.
As a bear, his penchant for “stealing picnic baskets” is very well established, one which has played a pivotal role in the development of the series central plot. Bears, in real life, are notorious for “raiding” the food supplies of campers or natural park picnickers, but this “bear aspect” isn’t driven by the mischief and hunger drives which motivate Yogi.
Hunger remains to be the main motivation why bears often raid picnic baskets and such, oftentimes causing fear and distress among picnickers.
Generally, bears don’t attack people unless they are provoked, and as natural creatures, they are known to use their massive size to intimidate, rather than to attack. Feeding the bears in national parks are not a good idea, since this would only encourage them to frequent designated picnic areas and facilities.
Should you ever find yourself in a natural park picnic situation, verify the presence of bears in a given zone/area with park rangers before spreading your picnic blanket. Though most designated picnic areas are fenced to keep bears out, there’s the off chance of a bear managing to find a way in, which would result to a “Yogi bear” scenario, where picnic baskets get swiped.
Brother bear, a wonderful animated family movie, tells the story of a human who is cursed and transformed into a bear after killing one to avenge the death of his brother. The spirits are angered by his act and turn him into a bear as punishment. During his journey to ask the spirits to turn him back to a human, he meets an orphaned bear cub whom he develops a bother-like bond with. In the end, the human decided to stay as a bear to watch over the cub and take care of him.
The bears in the movie were typical brown bears that you would see in the forest of North America and northern Eurasia. These bears commonly weigh between 220 and 1,300 pounds however, a brown bear sub species known as the Kodiak bears can grow as big as polar bears. They are commonly solitary animals, except if they have cubs. They prefer to roam around the alone looking for food and shelter. They are very protective of their territory and will defend it form danger. Brown bears are known to have salmon as an essential diet and as such, they usually stay near river banks fishing for their favorite food.
These bears are known to have long fur that is very thick and a long mane on their necks. Interestingly enough, not all brown bears are brown. Depending on the subspecies and the area, they can range from brownish yellow to a reddish brown with silvery tips. In North America, the most well-known brown bear is the grizzly. Grizzlies have very dark, almost black fur. Some also have creamy brown coats, depending on the area and habitat. Moreover, brown bears are known shed their fur—lot’s of it in fact. During winter, their coats are thinner and have a rougher texture. During summer, it’s sparser and shorter.
True Wild Life | Sloth Bear | The Sloth Bear also known as the Labiated Bear, is a nocturnalinsectivorous species of bear found wild within the Indian subcontinent. The sloth bear evolved from ancestral Brown Bears during the Pleistocene and shares features found in insect-eating mammals through convergent evolution. The population isolated in Sri Lanka is considered as a subspecies. Its favourite food is primarily termites and other insects which it snorts and sucks out of termite hills on the ground with a vacuum-cleaner sounding roar that can be heard several hundred yards away.
Using its narrow tongue and long lower lip, which it can extend far beyond its nose, the bear has no difficulty scooping up the tiny morsels. The bear has special adaptations for feeding on termites. It has gap between its front teeth which allows it to suck in the insects, and also the top of its mouth is hollowed and tube-like. The Sloth Bear also eats different insects such as ants and bees, and it also includes fruits, blooms and honey in its menu.
The Sloth Bear has a coarse, shaggy ebony pelt, a white V-shaped mark on its chest and has a protruding lower lip. After mating, there is a period of about 6 to 7 months before the young are born. Generally they breed in June and July and cubs are born from November to January. In South Sri Lanka there appears to be less breeding convergence and cubs may be born at any time of the year. They reach a length from 150 to 190 centimetres. Females reach a weight from 55 to 95 kilograms, while males are clearly heavier and between 80 and 140 kilograms in weight. Although Sloth Bears are rather shy animals, sometimes they are considered as aggressive as other breeds of bear. The total world population of the Sloth Bears is estimated at approximately 7,000 to 10,000 animals, which means that the IUCN lists it as an endangered species .
True Wild Life | Sun Bear | This small species of bear known as the sun bear, is found in the tropical jungles of Malaysia and parts of Indonesia. In the Malay language, their name for the sun bear translates to honey bear, due to the golden yellow markings found on the sun bears chest. The sun bear is the smallest surviving species of bear with the average adult sun bear measuring around 1 meter tall! The sun bear, like other species of bear, has fairly poor sight and must therefore rely on its excellent sense of smell in order to hunt for food. The sun bear generally feeds on small reptiles, mammals and birds, eggs, young palm shoots and fruit.
The sun bear has no real natural predators, but have been known to be occasionally hunted by a stray tiger or a large reticulated python. The biggest hunter of the sun bear is the human, who have often killed the bears in fear of being hunted themselves. Today, the sun bear is an endangered species with very few individual bears left in the wild. This is thought to be due to poaching of the sun bear and constant destruction of the environment which the sun bear inhabits.
Unlike most other species of bear, the fur of the sun bear is short and sleek rather than being thick and long. Many believe that this adaptation is due to the fact that there are few mountainous regions within the sun bears natural habitat of Malaysia, meaning the sun bear has naturally adapted to living in such hot and tropical climates.
The sun bear, although small, has been known to be fairly aggressive when faced with human encounters. As with other bear species, the sun bear has enormous paws and long claws which aid the sun bear in digging, tree climbing and breaking open bees nests in order to get the honeycomb that lies inside.
True Wild Life | Spectacled Bear | The spectacled bear is also known as the Andean bear, mainly because the spectacled bear is native to the Andes mountain range of South America. The spectacled bears territory ranges from northwest Argentina, into Peru, Venezuela and Brazil. The spectacled bear generally feeds on berries and shoots found both on ground level and in the trees. The spectacled bear also feeds on insects and small mammals and reptiles, and occasionally cattle.
The spectacled bear is the only surviving species of bear in South America, with the spectacled bears ability to climb tall trees quickly, thought to be the reason for this. The spectacled bear tends to be found in the rain forests and jungled areas of the Andes mountains, particularly in the dryer and more forested areas. The spectacled bear is one of the only remaining species of bear that actively hunts during the day. Most species of bear are nocturnal and therefore generally hunt at night.
The spectacled bear is thought to be non-territorial but the spectacled bear appears to distance itself naturally from other large animals particularly humans. It is because of this that the spectacled bear is not thought to be aggressive when it encounters people and the spectacled bear is therefore reported to be docile yet curious when seeing human beings. Like many other species of bear, the spectacled bear mothers have been said to attack people when they believe that their spectacled bear cubs are in danger. Although the spectacled bear is a medium sized bear with the average adult spectacled bear growing to around 1.5 meters tall, an aggravated spectacled bear mother will use all of her bear power and skills to protect her young family.
The spectacled bear population is thought to be severely under threat and has been decreasing rapidly over recent years. This is because local farmers believe that the spectacled bear kills livestock, the natural habitat of the spectacled bear is ever decreasing, and the gall bladder of the spectacled bear is believed to have medicinal properties in Oriental medicine so the spectacled bear is always under threat from International poaches as well as native poachers.
True Wild Life | Polar Bear | The polar bear is native to the Arctic Ocean but the polar bear is thought to be a sub-species of the brown bear. The polar bears scientific name is thought to mean sea bear, probably due to the fact that polar bear often spends long periods of time hunting in or on the freezing Arctic waters. The polar bear is one of the largest mammals on land with adult males often reaching over 800kg. The polar bear is the largest species of bear, with only a few grizzly bear males getting bigger than the average adult polar bear and these individuals are often polar-grizzly bear hybrids.
Most of the polar bears diet is comprised of seal, meaning the bears spend a lot of time on the frozen sea hunting the seal which is risky work especially when the ice begins to melt. The polar bear also eats fish but they are not as easy to spot (or catch) as a seal for a polar bear. The polar bears are often forced to swim for long distances in search of food, but tend to corner their prey towards the more frozen ice, as its easier for the polar bear to hunt on solid ground than it is for the polar bear to hunt in water, particularly as the seal is such a good swimmer.
Despite its bright white appearance, the fur of a polar bear is in fact clear and not white as it may seem. The polar bear has black skin under its long, thick coat of fur that together with the white from the surrounding snow, creates the illusion of a white coat!
Every year, the polar bear population is decreasing due to a mixture of hunting by humans and the ongoing effects of climate change. As the planet continues to get warmer, the sea ice is thawing earlier which means that the polar bear hunting season is getting shorter and shorter. Those human settlements within the Arctic Circle are seeing more polar bears every year as the polar bears are forced to make their way towards what they believe to be food. Many polar bears end up being shot when they venture close to towns although some areas are now taking measures to transport the polar bears away using helicopter rather than killing them.
Scientists have estimated that if climate change continues to have such a drastic effect on the polar bear's habitat, then the polar bear could be extinct within the next 30 years.
True Wild Life | Grizzly Bear | The grizzly bear is a sub-species of the brown bear, also known as the Silvertip Bear. The grizzly bears live in the uplands of western North America, and each female bear produces a litter of young roughly every other year. Grizzly bears can often be seen to congregate together around streams in the salmon season to get the best catch. The grizzly bear is generally a solitary mammal.
It is estimated that less than 10% of grizzly bears make it into full adulthood. While the grizzly bear has no natural predators, the bears have been hunted by humans almost to extinction. The grizzly bear has a bad reputation amongst humans and animals alike, as the grizzly bear is known to be aggressive and very territorial. Due to the grizzly bears size, there are no known North American mammals that would naturally prey on the grizzly bear, making the grizzly bear an extremely dominant predator.
Female grizzly bears that have grizzly bear cubs will often be extremely wary of other animals and the grizzly bear mother will often keep her grizzly bear cubs in quieter areas until the grizzly bear cubs are old enough and big enough to defend themselves, at which point the grizzly bear cubs will generally venture away from their grizzly bear mother in order to begin a life of roaming themselves. The grizzly bear mothers however are incredibly protective of their young and will generally always attack any animal that she believes is a danger to her young family.
Male grizzly bears can grow to a height of more than 3 meters tall when standing on their hind legs, with female grizzly bears being around 40% smaller. As with the brown bear (from which the grizzly bear is thought to have come from), the grizzly bear has a humped look at the top of the grizzly bears back, which is the build of the enormous muscle that provides the bears with the strength they need, mainly when digging.
Although it is generally believed that the grizzly bear is a carnivore, grizzly bears, as with most other bear species, are in fact omnivores as the grizzly bear diet consists of both plants and animals. The grizzly bear is most famously known for its love of salmon and can often be seen in large groups around the areas where the salmon spawn. The grizzly bears are still very territorial though but appear to stay out of each others way on these occasions as there is always plenty of fish to go round.
True Wild Life | Brown Bear | Brown Bears are found in many parts of North America and Eurasia, where the bears inhabit wooded and mountainous areas. The brown bear is also the national animal for a number of states in North America, Europe and Asia. Brown bears tend to feed on vegetation, fish and small land mammals, but the bears will only occasionally hunt bigger mammals like deer. Brown bears dont seem to be a great threat towards humans, although the mother brown bears will protect their young bear cubs.
Brown bears generally grow to about 2 - 3m tall, looking enormous when the bear stands on its hind legs. Brown bears have sadly been the target of taxidermists over the years resulting in the brown bear population declining. Today there is more in the way of Animal Rights meaning that the brown bear population can grow once again. The brown bear is one of the largest species of bear with only the grizzly bear and the polar bear getting to bigger sizes. Both the grizzly bear and the polar bear however, are distant sub-species of the brown bear that have today adapted to living in a different environment.
The brown bear is an extremely dominant predator in its environment, with only threats from human hunters posing any real dominance over the brown bears predatory rights. The brown bear has an enormous muscle between the brown bears shoulder blades that makes the brown bear stand out above other bear species. The enormous shoulder muscle that the brown bear has means that the brown bear has immensely strong forearms and allows the bear to break animal bones with one simple swipe. The brown bear has massive paws with claws that can grow longer than 15cm in length.
There are thought to be around 200,000 brown bear individuals left in the wild over half of which are found in Russia. Around 95% of the brown bear population found in the USA is in the northernmost state of Alaska. Most of the brown bears that inhabit regions of Canada are found in the west of the country in the Rocky Mountain range.
