We are the largest hunting and archery information sites on the Internet. Also, ranking.com says we are the most popular site for visitors after Cabela's. Finally, we get more hits than any other hunting site because there is so much more to see.
Our huge new Self Defense site
1,000s of self defense pages on stun guns, laser and tasers, a complete Martial Arts Directory for ju jitsu, Karate and Tae Kwon Do as well as self defense equipment to protect yourself and your family.
Our huge Boating and Sailing Site
It has 1,000s of pages and wonderful pictures of Sail and Power Boats and 100+ new pages on Sailing and Naval History from Salamis to WW II
Bear Pictures
Bookmark this valuable site
Bookmark this valuable site
Thank you for visiting Bear Pictures. We are a non profit, public service organization. We are all volunteers. All our revenues go to improving the site. No one has ever taken a salary. Please scroll down to learn more.
.
If you have a picture of wildlife that you like, send it to us and we will put it up and give you the credit.
Bear Pictures
Bookmark this valuable site
Bear Cub Pictures
The Brown Bear - courtesy of Encarta
The Brown Bear has lived successfully in conjunction with man on the plains and forests of the North Temperate Zone. While its range is dangerously reduced in the lower United States, this Bear survives and is hunted in Alaska and western Canada. The largest brown Bear, the Kodiak of Alaska, weighs up to 780 kg (1700 lb) and is as much as 3 m (10 ft) tall. The closely related grizzly is named for its white- or silver-tipped fur. Remnant populations of European brown Bears live in scattered mountain regions on that continent.
The American black Bear varies in color from pure white (Kermode's Bear of the coast of British Columbia) to the pure black, bluish, blonde, and reddish-brown (cinnamon) found in western North America.
The Asiatic black Bear, also known as the moon Bear, is found in mountain ranges of Southeast Asia. It has a black, shaggy coat with a pronounced white V shape on its chest. The upper lip is usually white.
The Malayan sun Bear, found from China to Indochina, has a short black coat with an irregular white or yellow mark on the chest and a light muzzle. Like all but the largest Bears, it is a tree climber.
Ranging through the tropical forests of India and Sri Lanka is the sloth Bear, named for its usually slow movements. This Bear has a long snout and mobile lips, which are used to suck up termites. The long, shaggy black coat commonly has a white mark on the chest.
The spectacled Bear found in the Andes mountains and Ecuador, is named for the yellow facial markings on its shaggy black coat. The muzzle, throat, and chest are usually cream colored.
BEHAVIOR AND LIFE CYCLE
Bears have a life span of 15 to more than 30 years in the wild. All species possess a keen sense of smell, which is much more developed than their hearing or eyesight. Recent studies suggest that black, brown, and polar Bears are true hibernators (see hibernation), going without food or elimination of metabolic wastes for three to five months (and as long as seven months in northern Alaska). Compared to rodent hibernators, however, the body temperature of a hibernating Bear remains higher, although the heart rate drops from 45 to only 10 beats per minute. In warm winter periods, a hibernating Bear may revive and leave its den for brief periods.
A female Bear typically gives birth to one to four cubs six to nine months after mating. The longer gestation results from delayed implantation of the fertilized egg to time the birth to coincide with the beginning of hibernation. The vulnerable newborns receive additional warmth and protection sharing close quarters with their mother during hibernation. The cubs are born very small-about 300 g (about 10 oz) among black Bears-and require maternal care for two or three years. Even after a yearling Bear starts to feed independently, it needs protection from older males, which will kill and eat cubs.
Females have evolved methods to protect their young by chasing them up trees or by attacking other animals that approach too closely; a Bear can run rapidly when necessary. This maternal instinct, when met with increased human intrusions into wilderness areas, occasionally leads to human maulings.
A large cause of conflict is competition for food, which leads Bears to discover and exploit food grown by humans. In agricultural areas, livestock, beehives, stored grain and other crops are raided. Bears in public parks develop new feeding patterns as begging or scavenging through human trash replaces natural hunting skills. Some Bears learn how to release cable-suspended food, break tree limbs, and open locked cars. When humans are perceived as the source of food, Bears may attack if they are denied the food they have come to rely upon.
