Fun Facts About Our Bears!

Currently there are 8 remaining species of bears in the world. These include:

1) North American black bear             5) Andean bear

2) Brown/Grizzly bear                        6) Panda bear

3) Polar bear                                        7) Sloth bear

4) Asiatic black bear                           8) Sun bear

Here at the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary we are the home of three of these species with a total of 30 bears. We have the North American Black bear, brown/grizzly bear, and Asiatic black bear.

Sunny

Twinkle

North American black bears are what most people in the United States think of when they hear about bears in the wild. They are the most common bear in North America. A common misconception about them is that they are always black. This is false, black bear coats can change colors throughout their lives and be both black and brown. This is also true about brown/grizzly bears. Both of these species are omnivores, which means they eat both meat and vegetable matter. Their diet is majority vegetable matter and a small portion is meat. Twinkle (pictured above) loves to eat grapes! Black bears range from Florida up to Canada and Alaska. Brown/grizzly bears have a smaller range across Europe and also Alaska, western Canada, and parts of Washington, Montana, and Wyoming.

Willy

Willy and Papa

Here at IEAS we have 7 brown/grizzly bears and 22 black bears. An easy way to tell black bears and brown/grizzly bears apart is to look between their shoulder blades. Grizzly bears have a large hump of muscle between their shoulders and black bears do not. Grizzly bears use that extra muscle for digging and our family of grizzlies use theirs to get into mischief in their enclosure. Brown/grizzly bears are typically larger than black bears but there are always special circumstances for individuals who might be a little smaller or larger than average.

Asia

Asia and Ashley

Asia (pictured above) is our only Asiatic bear. They are also commonly known as moon bears or white-chested bears. Asia is a very special girl who loves her sweets and is quite sassy. Asiatic black bears have long black fur with a white crescent shaped patch on their chests. They also have a longer patch of fur around their necks, which makes Asia extra cute. Asiatic bears are found in deciduous tropical forests throughout Asia. Like the other bear species, Asiatic bears are also omnivorous. However, they are more carnivorous than the other species. The majority of their diet is made of meat and only a small portion of vegetable matter. Asia's favorite food is the avocado!

http://bearwithus.org/8-bears-of-the-world/

http://www.kidzone.ws/lw/bears/facts-asiaticbear.htm