Page 22 - World of Animals - Issue #36
P. 22
30 amazing facts about bears
The original
word for ‘bear’
has been lost
Much in the way wizards fear to
say Voldemort’s name in Harry
Potter, it’s said that medieval
societies were scared to say the
word for bear, fearing it would
summon the creature. The word
actually meant ‘the brown one’;
this alternative was used so
commonly the animal’s original
name has been long forgotten.
Paddington
Bear was a
You can learn a lot about a spectacled bear
He was said to be a friendly bear
bear from its posture from ‘deepest, darkest Peru’. This
would make him an Andean – or
spectacled – bear, although we’re
Bears have earned themselves a fearsome possible to understand what sort of mood the not quite sure where his
reputation as unpredictable predators. But bear is in or if it feels threatened. For example, love of marmalade sandwiches
this isn’t always the case. Very few animals are happy bears make grunting noises, which quickly came from.
unpredictable and once you’ve learnt a bit about turn to a blowing sound when they start to feel
bear behaviour it gets easier to understand scared. Meanwhile, a bear standing on its hind legs They like to eat
what they’re thinking. By looking at their posture is probably feeling curious about something and
and hearing the different noises they make, it is trying to get a better look. different things
Only one of the eight species,
the polar bear, is considered
Some towns use bear-proof carnivorous due to a diet
consisting mostly of seal
rubbish bins to discourage blubber. Panda bears are almost
exclusively herbivores, spending
most of their time munching on
bears from looting bamboo. The other six species are
bears from looting
somewhere in between, eating a
varied diet of nuts, seeds, berries,
human trash and meat.
We’ve all heard the saying ‘the devil RIGHT When salmon
makes work for idle hands’ and nothing stocks decline, human-
could be truer for bears. When salmon bear conflict soars A bear fought in
stocks decline and bears have fewer WW2
fish to hunt, they keep themselves busy
by strolling into nearby towns in search Wojtek was taken on by the
of food. Bears are very intelligent and Polish army between 1942 and
quickly learn how to come up with 1963; originally a Private he was
solutions to their problems. However eventually promoted to a Corporal.
this can be a dangerous situation, as The bear helped with carrying
hungry bears can get aggressive and shells and ammunition to the front
are likely to take more risks in order line during the Second World War.
to survive. A study found that when
salmon populations declined by 50 per Polar bears
© Thinkstock; Alan D. Wilson; NaturePL; Getty; Alamy; freevectormaps.com for the easy option and scavenge for kilometres (426 miles). While this
are strong
cent, the number of bears killed per
square kilometre increased by 20 per
swimmers
cent. Although many animals will go
A record-breaking female polar
food in human settlements, the same
bear swam for nine whole days
isn’t quite true for bears. As a rule, they
straight in search of sea ice.
generally go for the natural food option
During this time she covered 687
when available; it’s only in times of
desperation they start to wander closer
is certainly impressive and adds
to civilisation. The temptation proves
to our knowledge of polar bear
too much, particularly when there is an
strength, it’s likely an unfortunate
abundance of grill houses, waste bins
result of disappearing sea ice.
and discarded food. Interestingly, recent
Climate change is one of the
research suggests that waste food is
turning bears into lazy couch potatoes.
22 biggest threats to these bears.
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