Sloth Bear

True Wild Life | Sloth Bear |  The Sloth Bear also known as the Labiated Bear, is a nocturnal insectivorous 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 .

Sun Bear

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.

Spectacled Bear

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.

Polar Bear

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.