There are three species of bear native to North America. Most numerous North American bears. The most typical is the American black bear, adopted by the brown bear after which the polar bear. Discovered all through Canada, the USA, and Mexico. Weighs 200 to 600 pounds. May be dark or gentle brown (cinnamon), sometimes even white. Not all the time black in coloration. 900,000 and not threatened. 📍Location: The American black bear will be found all through Canada, the USA, and Mexico. Nonetheless, some subspecies such as the Louisiana black bear are protected beneath the U.S. 📏 Measurement: Adults weigh 200 to 600 pounds and are 5 to 6 ft in size. 👀 Options: Most black bears are black, but their fur can vary from dark brown to lighter brown (cinnamon) and even white on rare events. They have pointed ears and a straight face. Of all of the bear species black bears are some of the very best at climbing trees. Their comparatively smaller dimension and shorter claws make them fast and nimble to climb bushes for safety, meals, and even hibernation. The majority of their eating regimen is vegetarian consisting of berries, plant shoots, and nuts. 🌱 Food plan: Their assorted eating regimen offers them the flexibility to live in a large vary of habitats. In addition they eat insects, fish, and carrion. 😱 Harmful? They are the most certainly bear to be encountered in the backcountry. And sure, they love honey. The grizzly and Kodiak are the two subspecies of brown bears in North America. Most widespread bear species are discovered within the northern Rocky Mountains, Alaska, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Brown bears are the most widespread of all bear species, found within the northern Rocky Mountains, Alaska, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Grizzlies are responsible for almost all bear attacks in North America, with 46 per year. Though their conservation status is “least concern”, their unfold-out nature and diminished habitat make most of the small remaining pockets fragile. The 200,000 brown bears of the world occupy a large number of habitats spanning deserts, forests, and mountains. All brown bears share a large build, a dish-formed face, and a shoulder hump. Their hair is lighter at the information, which led to the name of the most well-known subspecies, grizzly. Brown bears forage on roots, berries, insects, and fish, and some even hunt young mammals such as elk and moose. Their shade varies from gentle blonde to darkish brown. The 2 subspecies in North America are the grizzly and Kodiak. 📍Location: Grizzly bears are found within the northern USA, Canada, and Alaska. 📏 Measurement: Adults weigh four hundred to 790 pounds, are 6.5 ft long, and have a shoulder top of 3.Three toes. 🌱 Weight-reduction plan: Grizzlies eat berries, nuts, salmon and have been known to prey on large mammals. Coastal grizzlies are usually bigger than these found in the Rocky Mountains as a consequence of a richer weight-reduction plan. Annually there are 46 attacks and 6 deaths. 😱 Dangerous? Recognized for their aggressive behavior, grizzlies are accountable for essentially the most bear attacks in North America. 📍Location: Kodiak bears are only found on the Kodiak Islands, an archipelago in southwestern Alaska. 📏 Size: Kodiak bears are virtually as giant as polar bears, weighing 600 to 1,four hundred pounds, 8 toes long, and 4 ft tall at the shoulder. 🌱 Eating regimen: Their food plan is just like mainland grizzly bears. Nonetheless, resulting from more plentiful food sources, the islands can assist a denser bear population. Geographic isolation from the mainland allowed the 3,500 Kodiak bears to turn out to be their very own subspecies. This has led to a more complex social structure which leads to less conflict between bears. 😱 Dangerous? Like grizzlies, Kodiak bears may be aggressive. On account of their isolation, there is only one assault on people each other 12 months. Largest species of bear on the earth weighing between 800 and 1,300 pounds. Weight-reduction plan is mostly made up of meat, typically from seals. 📍Location: Polar bears are the largest bears and largest land carnivores on the planet. Fur seems white but is actually clear. The world’s 20,000 to 30,000 polar bears range within the snow-coated arctic ice in Alaska, Canada, Russia, and Norway. 📏 Measurement: Adult polar bears are 800 to 1,300 cute panda teddy pounds and will be 7 to 10 toes tall. They're a threatened species resulting from loss of habitat from local weather change. Regardless of their huge size polar bears may be quick, sustaining a 6 mph tempo in the water. 👀 Options: Compared to other bears, polar bears have a slimmer physique, slim head, longer neck, and paddle-like paws. For context, swimmer Michael Phelps received Olympic gold medals with a 4.7 mph tempo! 🌱 Weight loss program: Their food regimen consists mostly of animals, particularly seals which they'll scent from a mile away. Though they appear white, their fur is actually clear and their skin is black. 😱 Harmful? Polar bears can be extremely harmful. They see people as potential prey. Attacks are rare as a result of remote nature of their habitat. Identified for its cream shade chest blazes. At 300 pounds one of the smaller bears. Simple to tame and often widespread in circuses. 📍Location: The Asian black bear is found in forests and shrublands throughout Asia from Iran to Japan. The inhabitants is estimated at 40,000 to 50,000 and is considered weak. 📏 Size: One of many smaller species, adults weigh around 300 pounds and stand 47 to seventy five inches tall. 🌱 Food plan: Relying on the season it commonly feeds on small mammals, birds, fish, mollusks and carcasses or grasses, fruits, berries, seeds, insects, and honey. Attacks on people are growing as folks encroach on their habitat. 😱 Harmful? They are one in every of the best bears to tame (and due to this fact frequent in circuses), however Asian black bears are extra aggressive than their North American counterparts. Found only in China. 99% of its weight-reduction plan is bamboo. Actually, the second particular person in history to receive a facial transplant was mauled by an Asian black bear while defending his sheep. Identified for its iconic white face, eye patches, and striped body. 📍Location: Pandas are found only in China. Only 1,500 to 2,000 stay in the wild and they're thought-about a susceptible species. 📏 Dimension: Pandas weigh round 300 pounds and might be over four feet tall, a powerful feat considering they weigh solely about 3.5 ounces at birth. It also has a close cousin, the Qinling panda which has the identical pattern in mild brown and white. 🌱 Food regimen: In contrast to other bears the panda’s weight loss plan is homogeneous; 99% of what they eat is bamboo. 👀 Features: The enormous panda is iconic for its white face, black eye patches, and striped body. All that fibrous bamboo keeps them common: they poop over 40 times a day! 😱 Harmful? Attacks are rare but dangerous, on condition that pandas have one in all the best chunk forces of any carnivore. Smallest Bear weighing 55 to 143 pounds. Present in South East Asia. Eight to 10-inch long tongue for slurping up insects and honey. 📍Location: The Solar bear is found within the forest and shrubland of South East Asia and India. It's the least studied bear and. Its population is unsure however thought of susceptible and on the decline because of lack of habitat and poaching. Solar bears are hunted for his or her gallbladders and different physique parts used in traditional medicines. 📏 Size: They stand only 39 to fifty five inches and weigh fifty five to 143 pounds making them the smallest bear. 👀 Options: Solar bears have strongly curved claws, small rounded ears, and a short snout. They're named for his or her pale, horseshoe-shaped chest patch that looks like a rising solar. Additionally they eat seeds, fruit, birds, and deer. 🌱 Weight loss plan: Solar bears tear apart timber and nests to eat ants, bees, beetles, termites, and honey. Their love of honey has given them the nickname “honey bears.” In fact, they've an incredibly lengthy tongue (8-10 inches) for slurping up insects and honey. Native to South Asia. 😱 Dangerous? On account of its shy nature, assaults are rare. Long, shaggy fur and mane gave them the identify sloth bear. Sloth bears are feared by rhinos and elephants. 📍Location: The Sloth bear is discovered in the low elevation savanna and shrubland of India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. With a declining inhabitants of lower than 20,000, they are considered susceptible. 📏 Size: They're 55 to 75 inches long and weigh 200 to 300 pounds. 👀 Options: With their lengthy shaggy fur and mane, they're simple to tell apart from other Asiatic bears. In reality, they are very quick and might out-gallop people. European explorers mistook them for sloths after seeing them hanging the wrong way up from trees. They are noisy, messy eaters tearing up termite mounds with their large curved claws. 🌱 Weight-reduction plan: Their food regimen consists of termites, ants, and fruit. 😱 Dangerous? They're one of the crucial aggressive bears, with the most attacks on people, mostly resulting from surprise encounters. They blow the dust round with huge puffs and suck the ants up so loudly they can be heard 600 ft away. Sloth bears stand their floor if threatened and don't mix nicely with rhinos and elephants, usually charging at one another when in proximity. Solely South American bear. World’s final short-faced bear. The name “spectacled” comes from the lighter markings round their eyes that appear like glasses. This susceptible species of 13,000 to 18,000 remaining bears are found in the cloud forests of the Andes from Argentina to Ecuador. 📏 Size: They are mid-sized, weighing 175 to 275 pounds, and standing 47 to seventy nine inches tall. 📍Location: The spectacled bear is the world’s last quick-confronted bear and the only bear native to South America. 👀 Options: The title “spectacled” comes from the lighter markings around their eyes that sometimes seem like glasses. They spend most of their time in trees where they construct nest platforms, sleep and jealously guard valuable fruit and carcasses. 🌱 Food plan: Spectacled bears are mostly herbivores with a weight loss program consisting of principally cactus, bromeliad, palm hearts, and fruit, however they'll opportunistically eat mammals like rabbits and tapirs. 😱 Harmful? Residing in distant mountains, these shy bears often is the least dangerous of all bear species. Their bodies are smaller than polar bears but larger than grizzlies. The Grolar bear (aka Pizzly) is a uncommon hybrid of a polar bear and a grizzly bear that happens in both nature and captivity. Grolar bear habits is nearer to the polar bear. They feature the long necks of polar bears and the shoulder humps of grizzlies. In captivity, they've been documented stomping toys, much like how polar bears break ice. Black-brown hybrid bears have been bred in captivity, notably at the London Zoo in 1859, however haven't been confirmed within the wild. In 1986, a suspected grizzly-brown hybrid was shot however DNA checks have been unable to find out what type of bear it was. Adorable koalas are usually not bears, they are burly marsupials. Water bears aren’t bears either, they are indestructible, microscopic animals that can survive in space. Most bear assaults occur when a bear is startled or protecting their cubs. Red pandas? They’re in their own family which are closer cousins with skunks and raccoons than bears. 1. BEWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS. Watch for bear scat and bear tracks that will point out a bear is nearby, during which case you need to be extra vigilant. Listed below are a number of suggestions you need to use to forestall bear encounters and keep you and your hiking buddies protected. 2. MAKE NOISE. This helps bears know you are right here so they don't accidentally startle them. Consider attaching a bear bell to your pack. 3. KEEP YOUR DISTANCE. Whereas you might have great intentions, a bear is prone to really feel threatened when it sees you approaching and defend itself. 3. Secure YOUR SCENTED Items (AT CAMP). In case you see a bear, do not try to strategy or feed it. This includes meals, but also your toiletries, for instance. Whichever method you choose, be sure that it's at least 200 feet away from your tent so you do not attract bears to your campsite. 4. Keep CALM. In case you meet a bear, do not run. Attempt to make your self look as large as potential, waving your arms above your head. It's also possible to extend a jacket above your head to make yourself look bigger. Lock this stuff in a bear canister or use a bear bag to hang them up in a tree. Don't scream or attempt to scare the bear. 5. USE BEAR SPRAY (AS A last RESORT). Communicate to it calmly and slowly again away. Full instruction on how to use bear spray here. If the bear is dangerously close (30 ft) or is charging at you, pull out your bear spray and use it in 1-2 second bursts, aiming barely downward. 6. Struggle Again. If all else fails and a bear attacks you, do not play dead. Which bear is the largest? Averaging 900-1500 lbs, 8.0 to 8.4 ft lengthy, and 4.0 to 5.25 feet tall, the biggest bear by both size and weight is the polar bear. The biggest ever recorded was 2,200 lbs. Combat again with all of your power and hope that it's going to again down. Which bear is essentially the most harmful? All bears are harmful if provoked. Globally, the Asian black bear is understood for the most assaults. When in bear country, it’s at all times sensible to hold bear spray. It’s well deserved, particularly when cubs are around. Each year there are roughly forty six grizzly assaults, 6 leading to death. In North America, grizzly bears have the most fearsome status. Which bear is the strongest? While you’re most prone to see an American black bear, on common there is only one attack per year. By way of uncooked chew energy, measured in Newtons, the polar bear's chew reigns supreme. All bears are sturdy and not to be messed with. When using the chew drive quotient (bite energy relative to dimension), the solar bear packs probably the most punch. Originally named “Hotfoot Teddy”, Smokey Bear was a black bear cub found within the spring of 1950 after a wildfire in New Mexico. He had climbed a tree to flee the hearth but sustained burns on his paws and hind legs. Quickly after he turned an icon and to today is the star of the longest-working public service announcement marketing campaign. Yogi Bear is an animated bear recognized for his love of “pic-a-nic” baskets. Extra importantly Yogi Bear has inspired numerous thru-hikers to try to grasp the artwork of “yogi-ing”, the act of not fairly begging however receiving favors from strangers. Baloo s a sloth bear, although he has some traits of the Asian black bear. He is an easygoing, friendly bear who lives a responsibility-free way of life. He also could be the first bear to obtain his pilot’s license. Earlier than he was the storybook teddy bear, Winnie the Pooh was a black bear from Canada which the author’s son often would visit on the London Zoo. Winnie is short for “Winnipeg,” the city in Canada close to where he was from. Chris also wrote How you can Hike the Appalachian Trail. Equal components backpacking meals and ultralight gear. After via-hiking the Appalachian Path, Chris Cage created Greenbelly to offer quick, filling and balanced meals to backpackers. Get epic ideas, guides and how-to's in your inbox every two weeks.