Can You "Bear" This Quiz?

Answer: tropical desert

The Ursidae family belongs to the Fissipedia suborder of the Carnivora order. Bears are spread in the Northern Hemisphere and in the northern part of South America. Bears are highly adaptable and are found in very diverse habitats, ranging from the arctic regions to the the dense forests in temperate regions, the tropical forests and even the equatorial rainforest.

There is even a subspecies of the brown bear which thrives in the Gobi desert. Bears are generally large mammals, their common features including a bulky body covered in dense fur, powerful limbs and a short tail.

Their head is large and they have a long snout and round ears (by the way, they possess excellent senses of smell and hearing). They can stand upright on their hind legs. Males are usually bigger than females (up to 50% bigger).

Answer: eight

There are eight bear species living today:
Asiatic black bear (Selenarctos thibetanus) - found in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Himalayas, Tibet, Bangladesh; size: 125-185 cm, 100-200 kg;
Brown bear (Ursus arctos) - found from northwestern North America to Europe, the Middle East and Western Asia; average size: up to 4.8 m, 150-430 kg;
North American black bear (Ursus americanus) - found all the way from Mexico to sub-Arctic Canada; average size: 125-185 cm, 65-330 kg;
Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) - live in the Arctic regions; size: up to 4.2 m, 220-980 kg;
Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) - found in the forests of India and Sri Lanka; size: 150-185 cm; 90-150 kg;
Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) - found in the northern part of the Andes; size: 150-180 cm, 70-165 kg;
Sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) - spread throughout the Indochina Peninsula and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo; size: 120-150 cm; 30-70 kg;
Panda bear (Ailuropoda melanoluca) - barely survive in the Tibetan plateau; size: 160-190 cm; up to 180 kg;
There was a long debate whether the panda bears should be included in the bear family or the raccoon family and eventually the analysis of its genes showed that it was actually a species of bear.

Answer: cave bear

The cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) sought shelter within the warm caves during the very tough period of the Quaternary glaciations. It populated most of the Northern hemisphere. It was a giant bear, reaching over 2 m and was very similar to the modern brown bear.

It had a long skull packed with over-sized molars. Contemporary with the first humans of the Homo sapiens species, the cave bear was often drawn out of its den and hunted by our ancestors.

Answer: brown bear

The polar bear is generally considered the largest bear, although the term "largest" is pretty relative - depending in fact on the criterion: heaviest, longest, largest recorded etc. The average polar bear dimensions are by far greater than those of any other bear species.

However, there is a subspecies of the brown bear, the Kodiak bear, whose recorded specimens have had dimensions slightly larger than those of the polar bear.

Answer: in the Arctic regions

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is one of the largest carnivores in the world. It can weigh over 500 kg and can stand over 3 m tall on its hind legs. The largest recorded polar bear was a over 3.6 m tall and weighed about 990 kg. It lives on the islands and ice packs around the Arctic Circle and can sometimes descend into the tundra (especially in the winter season).
The polar bear is very well adapted to the harsh Arctic climate: under its thick fur, which covers its whole body except the nose and paws (the front ones are webbed for swimming), comes a layer of fat which makes the bear almost immune to cold.
Polar bears have no natural enemies, but they have to travel great distances, both on land and water, in order to find food (mainly seals).

Answer: omnivores

Except the polar bear all other bears are omnivores. Their diet includes animals like fish, seals, deer, small mammals, insects and plants: grass, leaves, plant roots and all kinds of fruit.
When they come out of their winter semi-hibernation (their main body functions - respiration, circulation - continue without modification and their body temperature doesn't drop) they eat mostly herbs, mosses and insects which have a laxative effect.

Answer: American black bear

The panda bear (giant panda) is classed as an endangered species due to habitat loss and poaching. There are only about 1000 panda bears still living in the wild. They live mostly in the wet and cool forests of the Sichuan region in China, feeding on bamboo trunks and leaves. They also feed on small mammals, birds, fish and eggs. The giant panda doesn't hibernate but it occasionally retreats in tree hollows and caves when it gets very cold.

Other bear species which have unfortunately ended up on the IUCN Red List of threatened species are the spectacled bear, the sloth bear, the Asiatic black bear (all three of them categorized as vulnerable species) and the polar bear (marked as a conservation dependent species). The Sun bear may also be in peril, since the actual number of individuals is unknown.

Answer: most are very sociable

Bears are isolated animals so they are not sociable at all and generally avoid human contact. The cubs stay with their mother for about six months (during which period the bear mother can be extremely aggressive and dangerous) after which they usually remain nearby for another three years.

Then they begin their long solitary life, always on the move in search for food. In fact bears are known to travel very long distances during their lives, being guided by an extraordinary sense of orientation. Amazingly, experiments have shown that bears were able to find their way back home, after being moved several hundred miles away.

Moreover, polar bears can follow precise paths to destination points miles away, traveling in straight lines, though the icepack beneath them is continuously moving.

Answer: maintain direct eye contact

Bears are naturally shy animals in relation to humans. They would most likely avoid any human contact especially if they can detect human presence from far away. Therefore it's recommended to make a lot of noise when traveling (ideally in a large group) within bear populated forests.
However, a close encounter with a bear requires a different approach. The bear isn't likely to attack but may still see you as a possible enemy. Thus, you should back away very slowly (running away would be the worst thing to do, only inciting the bear; it would surely catch you since it can run a lot faster) trying to avoid eye contact. Should the bear pursue you, try to distract its attention by dropping some items (not food) on the ground. As a last option you should "play dead", lying down on the ground, keeping as quiet as possible.
The only really dangerous situation would be encountering a mother bear with its cubs.

Answer: Celtic

The image of the bear seems to have been deeply imprinted in our subconsciousness, drawing its roots back to the times when our ancestors would fight over supremacy with the powerful beasts. The bear has been associated with several symbols in different cultures.
For the ancient Greeks, the bear was Artemis's companion or even the shape in which the goddess would occasionally transform. On the other hand, the Greeks and the Romans regarded the bear as a figure of maternal care and thus the bear was referred to only in the feminine gender.
The Celts chose the bear as the emblem for the warrior cast, "artos" (meaning bear in Celtic) - a name which is to be found in that of the mythical king Arthur. There is also a Gaelic bear goddess called Artio, symbolically suggesting the warring character of women in Celtic society.
The Ainu people in the Hokkaido island considered themselves descendants of bears.
Native Americans as well as several populations in eastern Siberia regarded the bear as a sacred and mystic animal and their shamans invoked the spirit of the bear to aid and protect their tribe.
Our special link with bears is also proved by the fact that two of the most important star constellations "bear" their name: Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
Thank you for playing and hope you've learned some new things about the amazing bears.