Know your Bears: 10 Types and Where to Find Them 

Mammals that are members of the Ursidae family include bears.

31 May 2024

By Khushi Maheshwari 

They range in size from eight feet long and over a thousand pounds to as tiny as four feet long and roughly sixty pounds. They can be found throughout Europe, Asia, South America and North America. Bears live alone most of the time, unless they are mothers with cubs. They have short tails, non-retractable claws and keen senses of smell.

Bears are a mammal with only eight species, but there are numerous subspecies. They can live up to 50 years in captivity and up to 25 years in the wild on average. The IUCN Red List lists six species as threatened or vulnerable, including the giant panda and the polar bear.

Check out these 10 varieties of bears: 

1. Grizzly Bears: A subspecies of brown bear found in North America is the grizzly bear. Grizzlies are usually brown, but their name comes from the appearance of white tips on their fur, which gives them a grizzled appearance. While there have been some contentious attempts in recent years to repeal the safeguards for grizzly bears, they are still legally protected throughout the continental United States, not just in Alaska. With the exception of mothers and their offspring, they can weigh up to 800 pounds on average and are solitary creatures. Grizzly bears are formidable predators at the summit of the food chain. But a large portion of their food is made up of fruit, nuts, berries, leaves and roots. In addition to eating moose, bears also consume rodents.

2. Polar Bears: Among the marine mammals are polar bears. Furthermore, they are the biggest terrestrial carnivores on the planet. They live their entire lives on the Arctic Ocean’s sea ice. The polar bear’s nose is the sole area where the black skin beneath its fur is visible. From the tip of their extremely short tail to the nose, they measure between seven and eight feet in length. Polar bear males are significantly bigger than females.

3. Giant Pandas: A global treasure, pandas are distinguished by their striking black and white coats. Pandas mostly inhabit temperate forests located at high altitudes in the mountains of southwest China, where their primary food source is bamboo. Depending on what portion of the bamboo they are consuming, they have to consume anything between 26 to 84 pounds of it each day. They make use of the larger wrist bones that serve as their thumbs on either hand. A baby panda is around the size of a stick of butter, yet female pandas can reach weights of up to 200 pounds. As adults, males can weigh up to 300 pounds. These bears are skilled tree climbers despite their size.

4. Sun Bear: The Sun Bear is the tiniest, least well-known and one of the rarest bear species. It is often referred to as the honey bear because of its love of honey. In the lush lowland woods of Southeast Asia, sun bears have solitary lives. The bib-shaped white or golden patch on the breast of sun bears, which, according to folklore, symbolises the rising sun, gives them their name. The size of a sun bear is just roughly half that of an American black bear. Interestingly enough, they are nocturnal. By night, these bears lop through the forests, feeding on small birds, lizards, rodents, fruits, berries, roots and insects. They have very long claws and a keen sense of smell. Data collection on sun bears is a challenging task.

5. Andean Bear: The only bear species found in South America is the spectacled Andean bear. Its future is questionable because of habitat loss. These spectacled bears can climb really well and often avoid human interaction, remaining quiet, calm and elusive. Normally solitary, they can occasionally be found in quite large groups when their preferred foods are widely available. The majority of the regions have recently been projected to have modest populations; the Northern Andes, for example, are thought to have between 6,000 and 10,000 overall. Hunting and habitat loss and degradation pose the biggest risks to spectacled bears in the region.

6. North American Black Bears: The most recognisable and prevalent bears in North America are black bears. They can climb trees rather well and are usually found in forests, although they can also be found in mountains and wetlands. It seems that black bears will devour anything. Black bears are lonely animals that cover vast territories. They hibernate in their dens throughout the winter, consuming body fat that has accumulated from their summertime and fall time feasts.

7. Kodiak Bear: The Kodiak bear, sometimes referred to as the Kodiak brown bear or the Alaskan brown bear, lives in the southwest Alaskan islands of the Kodiak Archipelago. It is one of the two largest bears alive today, the other being the polar bear, and one of the largest known subspecies or populations of brown bears.

8. Asiatic Black Bear: Asian Black bears have a light-coloured nose and ears and are medium-sized, black-coloured animals. Asiatic black bears are primarily found in southern Asia’s forested regions, particularly in the hills and mountains.

9. Brown Bear: The mountains and woods of northern North America, Europe and Asia are home to brown bears. With the exception of females and their offspring, these omnivorous giants are mainly solitary creatures; however, occasionally they do gather together. When the salmon travel upstream for summer spawning, fishing spots in Alaska witness dramatic gatherings. During this time of year, scores of brown bears might congregate to gorge on fish.

10.  Sloth Bears: They are bears that resemble sloths and have long, curved claws that they use to dig out termites and ants. They also have shaggy, dusty-black coats and pale, short-haired muzzles. These bears inhabit a range of moist and dry forests as well as some elevated grasslands. They can be found in southern Nepal, Sri Lanka and India.