Panda Bears

The giant panda is native to Chinas central rainforests, and mountain regions, due to the amount of bamboo that can be found in those places. Giant Pandas eat bamboo, bamboo and more bamboo. They seem to have an addiction to bamboo as it makes up 99% of their diet. With the other 1% made up of a combination of other plants and leaves, and sometimes even small rodents or insects.

“A typical animal eats half the day—a full 12 out of every 24 hours—and relieves itself dozens of times a day. It takes 28 pounds (12.5 kilograms) of bamboo to satisfy a giant panda's daily dietary needs, and it hungrily plucks the stalks with elongated wrist bones that function rather like thumbs.”

- http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/giant-panda/



Pandas are stereotyped with the thought of them being sat by a pile of bamboo leaves eating all day and doing absolutely nothing, but they are surprisingly good at climbing trees and are also decent swimmers, though these skills would only help their unquenchable thirst for bamboo.



http://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-panda-diplomacy-is-more-significant-than-ever-2013-11?IR=T

Polar Bears

Polar bears are native to the Arctic Circle and the regions ice sheets. They are extremely strong swimmers that have webbed paws to allow it to swim with ease. Polar bears have been known to swim for hundreds of miles, but it’s presumed that they cover the majority of that distance by floating on ice caps. Living on the planets coldest habitat means that they must adapt to their environment. To help them survive in their cold surroundings they have adapted by having a thick layer of fatty skin that keeps them warm at all times even while swimming in the freezing artic waters, they also have a very thick coat of white fur for both camouflage, and for keeping them dry as their fur coat is extremely water proof.

The Polar bears are the Arctic’s number one predator, meaning they are feared by almost every living thing that lives there. They typically prey on Seals and walruses, by surprising them while their resting on the edges of ice sheets or by diving through thin layers of ice, to catch the seals below, which are busy catching fish. When struggling to find prey, Polar Bears will resort to eating the carcasses of long dead seals or other animals, that have been kept from rotting due to the freezing cold temperatures of the Arctic.

Black Bears

Black bears are North Americas most widely spread Bear species, that span all over the country. Forests being their main home, they tend to be very good at climbing trees, which helps when it comes to foraging for food and escaping from hostile bears, or hunters. Black bears are omnivores that forage for roots, berries, leaves, insects and small animals such as Badgers, raccoons and Possums. Much like their Grizzly cousins they are being forced from their natural habitat, due to deforestation which means they are now in search for easy ways of getting food, which means they can sometimes been seen in small rural towns looking through peoples trashcans and breaking into cars and homes in search for their next meal.

“Solitary animals, black bears roam large territories, though they do not protect them from other bears.” (http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/black-bear/ ). Males are known to wonder 15-80 square miles from their ‘home’ land. This can be in search for food or during mating season in search for female Black bears. During winter Black bears go into hibernation inside their dens, which are made out of caves, burrows in the earth or sometimes high up in of the ground in a hole in the side of a tree, which they slowly feed of their body fat that they’ve built up during Spring and Summer.

Grizzly Bears

The Grizzly Bear is a subspecies of Brown Bear that inhabit North America, Canada and Alaska. These Bears tend to be solitary animals that only come together in order to mate, or when Salmon swim up rivers and streams to reproduce. During this time, dozens of bears can be seen on the river banks filling up on fatty fish for winter, when they bunk down and go into hibernation.

Grizzly Bears are on the top of the food chain in the regions that they inhabit. They tend to hunt moose and small rodents but they will also forage for nuts, berries, leaves, roots and fruits. Due to deforestation and the destruction of their homes, some Grizzly Bears have resorted to finding food in small villages or towns usually braking into dumpsters in search of food.     

 

Grizzly Bears Catching Salmon

Video credit to BBC Earth.

Introduction

Hi, im Caolan, im from Ireland and im currently writing my first blog about Bears. This being my first post, im going to introduce you to what ill be writing about in my blog. First of all I choose this topic to blog about simply because Bears are one my favourite animals due to their size and aggressive nature. In this blog I will be discussing where different types of bears live and how they are adapted to their habitat.