Adorable Pictures Of Momma Bears With Their Little Teddy Bears

With the exception of courting individuals and mothers with their young, bears are typically solitary animals. They are generally diurnal, but may be active during the night (nocturnal) or twilight (crepuscular), particularly around humans.

Bears possess an excellent sense of smell and, despite their heavy build and awkward gait, are adept runners, climbers, and swimmers. In autumn, some bear species forage large amounts of fermented fruits, which affects their behavior.

Bears have been hunted since prehistoric times for their meat and fur. With their tremendous physical presence and charisma, they play a prominent role in the arts, mythology, and other cultural aspects of various human societies.

In modern times, the bears' existence has been pressured through the encroachment on their habitats and the illegal trade of bears and bear parts, including the Asian bile bear market.

The IUCN lists six bear species as vulnerable or endangered, and even least concern species, such as the brown bear, are at risk of extirpation in certain countries. The poaching and international trades of these threatened populations are prohibited, but still ongoing.

The English word "bear" comes from Old English "bera" and belongs to a family of names for the bear in Germanic languages that originate from an adjective meaning "brown".

In Scandinavia, the word for bear is björn (or bjørn), and is a relatively common given name for males. The use of this name is ancient and has been found mentioned in several runestone inscriptions.

Bears are generally bulky and robust animals with relatively short legs. Bears include the most massive terrestrial members of the order Carnivora.

Some exceptional polar bears and Kodiak bears (a brown bear subspecies) have been weighed at 1,002 kg (2,209 lb) and 751 kg (1,656 lb), respectively.

As to which species is the largest depends on whether the assessments is based on which species has the largest individuals (brown bears) or on the largest average size (polar bears), as some races of brown bears are much smaller than polar bears.

Adult male Kodiak bears average 480 to 533 kg (1,058 to 1,175 lb) compared to an average of 386 to 408 kg (851 to 899 lb) in adult male polar bears, per the Guinness Book of World Records.

The smallest bears are the sun bears of Asia, which weigh an average of 65 kg (143 lb) for the males and 45 kg (99 lb) for the females, though the smallest mature females can weigh only 20 kg (44 lb).

All "medium"-sized bear species (which include the other five extant species) are around the same average weight, with males averaging around 100 to 120 kg (220 to 260 lb) and females averaging around 60 to 85 kg (132 to 187 lb), although it is not uncommon for male American black bears to considerably exceed "average" weights.

Unlike most other land carnivorans, bears are plantigrade. They distribute their weight toward the hind feet, which makes them look lumbering when they walk.

Bears can stand on their hind feet and sit up straight with remarkable balance. Bears' non-retractable claws are used for digging, climbing, tearing, and catching prey.

Bears are primarily found in the Northern Hemisphere, and with one exception, only in Asia, North America, and Europe. The single exception is the spectacled bear; native to South America it inhabits the Andean region.

Bears are generally diurnal, meaning that they are active for the most part during the day. The belief that they are nocturnal apparently comes from the habits of bears that live near humans, which engage in some nocturnal activities, such as raiding trash cans or crops while avoiding humans.

Bears are overwhelmingly solitary and are considered to be the most asocial of all the Carnivora. Liaisons between breeding bears are brief, and the only times bears are encountered in small groups are mothers with young or occasional seasonal bounties of rich food (such as salmon runs).