Find out about the World's 8 bear species in all of their glory
All 8 species of bear are endangered to some degree. Here you'll get facts, photos, videos, and informational links to organizations that are trying to save them.
The 8 bear species are: American Black Bear, Asiatic Black Bear, Brown Bear, Giant Panda, Polar Bear, Spectacled Bear, Sloth Bear and Sun Bear.
A unique and rare subspecies of bear, the Kermode aka Spirit Bear aka Ghost Bear will also be covered here.
I'm known as the Bearmeister because I love bears and an an online ambassador for them. Read on and I think you'll see why I love bears so much.
A Stapshot Of The 8 Bear Species & the Kermode Bear, a rare subspecies
These are snapshots of the 8 bear species and a rare subspecies of the world.
To do each species justice, I've created a lens for each with many more facts, photos, videos, resource links, books, and places to get even more information.
I hope this information is enough to whet your appetite and send you to the individual bear lenses. Enjoy!
American Black Bear
American Black Bears are the most common bears in North America. They live in 41 of the U.S. States, throughout Canada (except Prince Edward Island) and Mexico.IUCN lists them as
Least Concern
However, according to Defenders of Wildlife, "they are listed as a threatened subspecies in Louisiana, eastern Texas and southern Mississippi under the federal *Endangered Species Act. In 4 additional states black bears are state-listed as rare, threatened or endangered (Lousiana, Florida and within the historic range of black bears in southern Mississippi and eastern Texas). The Florida black bear subspecies is listed as threatened by the state of Florida."
For a complete compilation of facts, photos, books, videos and links to organizations helping these bears, click American Black Bear
Asiatic Black Bear
The Asiatic Black Bear is also known as the Tibetan black bear, the Himalayan black bear, or the moon bear.The Asiatic Black Bear is distributed all the way from the east to west of the Asian continent. They are found in high elevations as well as in lower lands. Areas with forests of hilly and mountainous areas in: East Asia and South Asia, including South Korea, North Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh northern India, Nepal, Sikkim (Indian state), Bhutan, Burma, southern Siberia in Russia, northeastern China, Taiwan and Japan
They are listed as
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
These bears are imprisoned by the Chinese and Koreans on bear farms and used to harvest bile. The bears are caged in tiny cages in a prone position as cubs for life with catheters inserted into them. The bile is then removed 2 times a day. When they are old (sometimes being in these cages for 20+ years) they are killed and their gall bladder and paws are removed. Bear farms are a barbaric and a horrible stain on mankind.
There are synthetic sources for bile which should stop this cruel treatment of these bears, however, the farms are still there. For more information on how you can help stop this cruel and inhumane practice, click Animals Asia.
For a complete compilation of facts, photos, books, videos and links to organizations helping these bears, click Asiatic Black Bear
Brown Bear
The Brown Bear has subspecies called the Eurasian Brown Bear, Grizzly Bears, the Syrian Brown Bear, Kodiak bear, and Siberian Brown Bear.Brown bears are distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. Mostly Russia, the United States, and Canada.
They have a total population of approximately 200,000.
Brown Bears are listed as Least Concern
speciesFor a complete compilation of facts, photos, books, videos and links to organizations helping these bears, click Brown Bears
Save the bears of the Great Bear Rainforest - Urgent petition
Petition to stop trophy hunters in the Great Bear Rainforest
Photo: National Wildlife Federation
The Great Bear Rainforest, one of the last rainforest's on earth, is found in British Columbia, Canada. It is home to Brown Bears/Grizzlies and Black bears. Currently trophy hunters are allowed to kill these volunerable bears.
Currenlty, the Vancouver Organizing Committee is planning for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, so now is a great time to let them know that you oppose the killing of these bears.
You can help by signing the petition at Stop the trophy hunting.
Let the organizers knows that you are considering avoiding the 2010 Olympic Games as long as the trophy hunt for bears is allowed to continue in the Great Bear Rainforest - and that you will encourage your friends and family to follow suit.
Giant Panda
Giant Pandas
are found in several mountain ranges in China. Specifically, in the Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces.
They used to be found in the lowlands, however due to habitat destruction from farming and the clearing of forest of bamboo (their main source of food), they are now found only higher up.
They are listed by the IUCN as
Endangered
For a complete compilation of facts, photos, books, videos and links to organizations helping these bears, click Giant Pandas
Polar Bear
Polar bears live only in the Northern Hemisphere. They inhabit the Arctic ice cap, islands, sea ice, and water and continental coastlines. Polar bears prefer the sea ice habitat. They like to be near the continental coastlines or islands.Although Polar Bears are listed by the IUCN as
Vulnerable
For a complete compilation of facts, photos, books, videos and links to organizations helping these bears, click Polar Bears
Sloth Bear
Sloth Bears are found the lowland forests of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh. The primary threats to the survival of the Sloth Bear on the Indian subcontinent are poachers, who steal young cubs and kill their mothers in the process, then sell the cubs to be used as Dancing Bears and the loss of habitat are the. They are yet another bear that are hunted by humans for their gall bladder for eastern medicine.Sloth bears are listed by the IUCN as
Vulnerable
Dancing Bears of India
In India many Sloth bears are taken from their mothers when they are just weeks old and have to witness their mothers brutally killed while trying to save their cubs.
These cubs are then sold on the black market where the buyers turn them into 'Dancing Bears'. To do that, their muzzles are pierced and threaded with a coarse rope. The bear lives out it's life at the end of the rope. It dances for tourists and is dragged from village to village. (If you didn't shudder or cringe at this, you have no heart.)
To save these bears from a lifetime of misery, Wildlife S.O.S. has a India Bear Rescue Project where they save these bears.
For much more information and photos about how this practice of Dancing Bears got started and what is being done to stop it, click Dancing Bears
For more facts, photos, books, videos and links to organizations helping these bears, click Sloth Bear
Meet Kartick Satyanarayan aka BEAR MAN
The story behind the Dancing Bear Rescue
For the inspiring true story of the Dancing Bear Rescue (told with photos and videos) and meet the Co-founder and Director aka BEAR MAN, click HERE.
Spectacled Bear
Spectacled bears, also known as Andean Bears are the only bears found in South America.They are found in forested mountains from Venezuela and Colombia south through Ecuador, Peru, and into Bolivia.
They are listed by the IUCN as Vulnerable
For more facts, photos, books, videos and links to organizations helping these bears, click Spectacled Bear
Sun Bear
Sun Bears, also known as Malayan Sun Bears or Honey Bears are the smallest bears in the world and are found primarily in the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia.Sun Bears are listed by the IUCN as
Vulnerable
These bears are also hunted for their fur and bile for Eastern medicine. For more information on how you can help stop the cruel and inhumane practice of bear bile farming, click Animals Asia.
For a complete compilation of facts, photos, books, videos and links to organizations helping these bears, click Sun Bears
Photo Gallery Of The 8 Wonders Of The World
Moving photos of bears
My favorite bear photos are by ucumari on Flickr. These are just a few. Click ucumari to see her complete bear set.
This Lens Support Wildlife S.O.S.
Founders And Operators of The Only Dancing Bears Sanctuaries In India
This little guy has since been RESCUED!
All royalties raised on this lens are donated to Wildlife S.O.S. for their "India Bear Rescue" Project to rescue Dancing Bears in India.
To learn about little cubs like this one and other Dancing Bears, click Saving The Dancing Bears Of India
Show your support of Wildlife S.O.S. and the Dancing Bears of India
Get this adorable image of a Sloth Bear on t-shirts, hats and other apparel. To see all products with this design, click More Products
Golf Shirt
Price: 21.99
Organic Cotton Tee
Price: 22.99
Women's Tank Top
Price: 20.99
Cap
Price: 18.99
Wonderful BEAR Books
1
How One Little Polar Bear Captivated The World (Knut) by Craig Hatkoff, Juliana Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff, Dr. Gerald R. Uhlich
When Knut was born, the first polar bear cub at th more...3 points
2
Rescuing the Spectacled Bear by Stephen Fry
Both wildly funny and moving -- a journal of Steph more...2 points
4
Polar Bears and the Arctic (Magic Tree House Rsrch Gdes(R)) by Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce
WHY IS THE arctic so cold? How do polar bears cros more...1 point
5
Smithsonian Book of Giant Pandas by Susan Lumpkin, John Seidensticker
The recent arrival of the two giant pandas Tian Ti more...1 point
6
The Bears of Katmai: Alaska's Famous Brown Bears by Matthias Breiter
For more than five years, photographer, author, an more...0 points
Bear videos
Polar bears and dogs playing
Protecting Alaska's Brown Bears (CBS News)
Sun bears now threatened with extinction
Sloth Bears
American Black Bear Ursus Americanus
Giant panda bear does handstand! BBC wildlife
Web Extra: Jeff and the Bears - Nature's Great Events - BBC One
Spirit Bear aka Kermode Bear aka Ghost Bear
This bear is a rare subspecies of the Black Bear. Due to a rare genetic trait, these bears has white fur but they are not albino. There eyes and nose are both brown not white as an albino would be.They are found mainly on Prince Royal Island, off the coast of British Columbia in Canada. They live in the rainforest on the island known as the Great Bear Rainforest.
For a complete compilation of facts, photos, books, videos and links to organizations helping these bears, click Kermode Bears
BEAR DVDs From Amazon
1
![Alaska: Spirit of the Wild (IMAX) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51lGksCBHkL._SL75_.jpg)
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild (IMAX) [Blu-ray]
Go far beyond even the highest definition with thi more...2 points
2
The Jungle Book (40th Anniversary Platinum Edition)
The lush and lively jungle comes alive in this exc more...2 points
3
Brother Bear (2-Disc Special Edition)
Disney proudly presents BROTHER BEAR, an epic anim more...1 point
4
Little Bear - Feel Better Little Bear
Little Bear and friends get ill and get better.Gen more...1 point
Bear Merchandise at Amazon
GiantSquid Community Showcase Winner
This lens won the Favorite Giant Lens Contest for the week of 11/7/08. Click blog entry to see the write up. Check out all of the wonderful lenses on the Giant Squid Community Showcase and vote for your favorites. Thank you to everyone who liked this lens enough to vote for it. Bear hugs to all! Featured Bear-Related Lenses
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Bear Art: Beauty And The Beast
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Here you'll find Bear Art -- sculptures, photography, paintings, drawings, carvings -- all of Bears in all their glory. Also tips on naming sculptures, using photos as inspirations, and much more. I love bears. I devote so much time and energy into...
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Polar Bear Videos -- Polar Bears, Here, There, Everywhere
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Get your polar bear fix here with live, cartoon and animated videos showcasing polar bears in all their glory. You'll find funny, serious and educational videos as well. Watch and learn about these magnificent creatures and find out where you can lea...
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Lions, Fu Dogs and Bears (OH MY!)
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Animals make fascinating subjects for artists. Here you'll find unique sculptures of lions, fu dogs, bears, cats, wolves and other animals. I'll showcase my sculptures plus other artist's creations. I'll also include interesting facts about the ani...
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Bear Fetishes: Carvings And Jewelery
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I love bears and bear fetishes. As a sculptor and sometime carver, I've particularly drawn to fetishes. Especially bears. Here I'll share my continued research on bear fetishes. I'll introduce you to Zuni and Inuit carvers; the history of fetishes; a...
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All Polar Bear Ware, All The Time
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Jewelery, bear fetishes, t-shirts, clothing, housewares, bags & totes, paper weights, gift items, and much more -- everything for the polar bear lover. I've handpicked them all for quality, uniqueness and price. You'll find that perfect gift for your...
Save Our Bears (SOB) Group
Member of Save Our Bears Group -- a group of lenses devoted to help change the plight all of the 8 bear species through awareness and fund raising.The lenses show the wonderful nature of bears and many will, at the same time, shine a spotlight on the dangers bears face including: trophy hunters, gall bladder and bile farming, pollution, bear baiting, global warming, and habitat destruction.
You'll also find fun lenses on great polar bear movies, books, teddy bears, even cartoon and toy bears.
Click Save Our Bears (SOB) to go to the group page.
Organizations helping to Save Bears
- National Wildlife Federation
- National Wildlife Federation's (NWF) mission is to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future. Our conservation work focuses on three major areas that will have the biggest impact on the future of America's wildlife: confronting global warming, protecting and restoring wildlife
- Polar Bears International - Polar Bear Conservation Through Research and Education
- Tons of educational polar bear information and research, gorgeous polar bear photos, and a huge polar bear FAQ file from an organization dedicated to saving polar bears.
- Earth Platform-Bears
- Welcome to Earth Platform, the environmental website that informs you about our natural planet and the emerging threats to our world today. With subjects like deforestation, global warming, endangered species and environmental pollution. It's organised into clear categories: Nature, Animals, Energy, Pollution and Organisations.
- NRDC's Save BioGems: The Place to Save Wildlife and Wildlands
- Now more than ever, North and South America's last wildlands and rarest wildlife are under threat from large scale logging, mining and industrialization. NRDC's BioGems Initiative harnesses the power of citizen activism to help ensure that these natural treasures -- our BioGems -- remain wild for the sake of a sustainable planet and all future generations.
Help Wildlife SOS save the Dancing Bears of India
Every dollar helps feed a bear
Wildlife SOS was created by a group of committed individuals who believe that it is not too late to help and save wildlife. Wildlife SOS believes that rapid action needs to be taken by every individual in this lifetime to make a change that will conserve
Guest Book For Your Feedback
Please use this guestbook to let me know if something is missing or could be done better. I can't bear to disappoint you!
Please take a moment and go back to the top of the page and give me some stars by clicking 1 to 5 stars in the right hand set of 5 stars above. You can also...
1. Join my Fan Club
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3. Add Me To Your Favorites.
Expressions wrote...
Thank you! This is a wonderfull lens and a very good cause as well! Bear hugs for sure!
Posted June 11, 2009
Frankster wrote...
in reply to BigGirlBlue Thank you for your donation to Wildlife SOS. The donate now button lets you donate as little as $1 and it goes 100% to Wildlife SOS to save the sloth bears and other animals in India. Bear hugs, Frankie
Posted May 14, 2009
BigGirlBlue wrote...
I made a donation using the "donate now" button above. Super easy! And they accept all amounts.
Posted May 13, 2009
BigGirlBlue wrote...
Another fabulous lens. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of bears. All beautiful and deserving of protection.
Posted May 13, 2009
RSS From Polar Bear News - Includes All Bear Species
This is the feed from my Polar Bear News blog. To see the whole blog click PolarBearNews.com . You can get my blog via email or RSS feed by going to the blog itself. To see a particular article, press on the headline below. I cover news related to Polar Bears and special reports on all 8 bear species. The pictures and other graphics don't show up here so visit the site to see them.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byNews on bears and other endangered species
- Wildlife Extinction Rates ‘Seriously Underestimated’ - CommonDreams.org
- Endangered species may become extinct 100 times faster than previously thought, scientists warned today, in a bleak re-assessment of the threat to global biodiversity....
- Scientists Study Polar Bear Hearing as Arctic Acoustic Environment Faces Change
- As global warming melts Arctic ice and pressure mounts for oil exploration, scientists worry that increasing noise might interfere with polar bear reproduction...
- Alaska Officials Turn on Polar Bears (Reporting by Roddy Scheer)
- The State of Alaska filed suit in federal court last week seeking to overturn the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services decision to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act...
- Polar bear euthanized
- Polar bear euthanizedYugyan, a 22-year-old female polar bear at the Oregon Zoo, was euthanized Tuesday. Yugyan was diagnosed with kidney failure a year ago and the zoo staff had tried to manage the bear's pain...
- Zero The Polar Bear Draws People To Zoo
- The Milwaukee County Zoo may have discovered a new way to lure customers.
People are coming to see if Zero the polar bear is still down in his moat.
"We heard about the bear falling in, and she absolutely loves polar bears, so we thought we'd come out and see how he's doing," Aaron Lipski said. - Mitochondrial genomes reveal an explosive radiation of extinct and extant bears near the Miocene-Pliocene boundary
- Despite being one of the most studied families within the Carnivora, the phylogenetic relationships among the members of the bear family (Ursidae) have long remained unclear. Widely divergent topologies have been suggested based on various data sets and methods.
- Second polar bear twin dies in Germany - CNN.com
- A polar bear twin born last month at a German zoo has died less than a week after its sibling, zoo officials announced Saturday.
- Eggs key to polar bear survival: Study
- Canada's vulnerable polar bear population could survive the effects of climate change by switching a significant part of their diet from seal meat to scrambled eggs, according to a new U.S. study that suggests snow geese nests along the Hudson Bay shore may become a key feeding site for the iconic Arctic mammal.
- Shell says won't drill in Beaufort Sea after ruling
- Oil major Shell Oil (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it will not drill in Alaska's Beaufort Sea next year after a court ruled in November that federal officials failed to address environmental impacts when they granted the company a permit.
- Making life bearable
- As she works to alleviate the suffering of animals, Laurence Van Atten sees the best and the worst in people.
At the end of 2008, Ms. Van Atten had reason to rejoice. She and her colleagues at International Animal Rescue marked their 500th sloth bear rescue. - Passion and polar bears: Zoo looks for a suitor
- The Buffalo Zoo’s once-robust polar bear family, depleted in recent years by the loss of six animals because of health problems, may be about to stage a comeback. Much depends on Nanuq, a 21- year-old male expected to be imported from the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wis., to breed...
- Unknown
- The Canadian polar bear at the centre of Britain's longest-running animal-rights feud is being moved from its controversial Victorian-era enclosure at the Edinburgh Zoo to a new, 1.6-hectare home at a wilderness park in northern Scotland.
- The Savvy Reader: International Day of the Polar Bear: A Reading List
- Of all of the amazing uses of Twitter, the random bits of fascinating information that come from all over the internet tend to grab my attention. Yesterday (and I wish I had grabbed the @ address where I read this...
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<a href="http://www.squidoo.com/bears-species/" title="Click Here to visit BEARS: The 8 Wonders of the World">BEARS: The 8 Wonders of the World</a>
Other Lenses by Lensmaster, Frankster aka Bearmeister
What else is the Bearmeister up to?
Check out these great lenses...
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- Are You Polar Bear Aware?
Polar bears are affected by global warming, oil exploration, and big game hunters, all of which negatively affect their population. The purpose of this lens is to raise money to help save Polar Bears from extinction while helping more people become P... view lens -
- Saving The Dancing Bears Of India
Here, I'll share with you the tragic story of the Dancing Bears of India and the uplifting story of their ongoing rescue. As you read their story, you may wince and want to stop, but please read on. There IS hope for these mistreated Sloth Bears. W... view lens -
- Cats Just Wanna Have Fun
Loaded with funny pictures, videos and stories of cats doing nutty things as well as valuable information on caring for your cat, including ear mites, mange, dealing with cat allergies, grooming, poisonous plants, and much more. There will also be l... view lens -
- BEARS: The 8 Wonders Of The World
This lens showcases the 8 species of bear world-wide. From here, you can go to more in depth lenses about each particular bear with lots of facts, photos and videos. All 8 species of bear are endangered to some degree. Here you'll get facts, photos,... view lens -
- Polar Bears International
Polar Bears International (PBI) is dedicated to the worldwide conservation of the polar bear through and education. PBI supports research projects that benefit the world's polar bears. PBI's low overhead is covered by gift shop sales and administrat... view lens
Copyright
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in any matter (physical or digital) without prior written consent.
Copyright 2008 Frankie Kangas All rights reserved.
Stories about bears in Zoos around the world
What zoos are doing for bears
- Rebirth for polar bears at Buffalo Zoo
- Visitors are very excited about seeing one of the newest members of the family at the Buffalo Zoo.
- Gentle Reassurance between Sun Bear Cubs
- Pagi, a female Bornean sun bear cub whose name means morning in a Malayan dialect, reassures her brother, Palu, who is named after a valley in Borneo, as they made their public debut at the San Diego Zoo today.
- Panda-less Ueno Zoo sees drop in visitor numbers | Japan Probe
- A year has passed since Ling Ling, Ueno Zoo's giant panda, died of old age. The zoo has yet to receive a replacement panda, and it seems that the situation
- New polar bear could mean cubs for Detroit Zoo
- The zoo has welcomed Lee, a 9-year-old, 900-pound male polar bear from the Lincoln Park Zoo, according to zoo officials.
- Kavek, Tulsa Zoo's Polar Bear, Dies|NewsChannel 8
- The Tulsa Zoo has lost a towering figure in Kavek, the polar bear.
The zoo announced Friday that Kavek was euthanized after a battle with kidney disease. - Are the Pandas Going Back to China? - ABC News
- Pandas on loan from China could soon return home.
- Two zoos go Knuts over polar bear ownership
- An unlikely candidate is involved in a Berlin custody dispute - three year old Knut, a polar bear who currently lives in the Berlin Zoo but is technically owned by the Neumunster zoo.
- KC Zoo to build home for polar bears but doesn't know if it will get one
- Kansas City park officials on Tuesday approved a $7.85 million contract to build an exhibit for the long-awaited return of beloved polar bears to the zoo. Now all they have to do is find polar bears — and you can't get them on eBay.
- Bear necessity to move Mercedes
- An appeal is launched to help a polar bear move from its home at Edinburgh Zoo to Highland Wildlife Park.
by Frankster
Hi. I'm Frankie Kangas, aka Frankster, aka Bearmeister aka Cat Woman. I love animals, especially bears and cats -- domestics and big cats. I read, res...
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