Bears are usually thought of as creatures of the Northern Hemisphere
but three species range quite close to the equator. In fact, two
species, the spectacled bear and the sun bear, actually occur south of
the equator. Very little is known about the lives and habits of tropical
bears, perhaps wildlife research is not a high priority for the relatively
poor countries in which these bears occur. No one doubts the importance
of conservation and wildlife study, but the government of many Third
World Nations often simply have no mercy for along range resource planning
let alone for wildlife research. For this reason, the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its associate, the World
Wildlife Fund, have been a major financiers for conservation in the Third
World, underwriting recovery programs for such critically endangered species
as orangutans, pandas, tigers, elephants, and rhinos.
Sun
Bears: The Word Smallest Bears
In the rush to save other animal superstars,
the little 100 pound (45 kg) bear ha been sadly overlooked. It seldom
rates even a footnote in most wildlife studies, and all the information
published on it would hardly fill two written pages. Yet what
little data there is disturbing: In 1978 the IUCN included the Sun
bear (Helarctos malayanus) on its red list of endangered species. Although its populations have been greatly decreased by hunting,
the sun bear still exists in the forests of the Malay Peninsula, Java,
Sumatra, Burma, and Thailand. In Borneo, the Bears have been reported
up to 4,900 feet (1,500 m) in the Sabah / Sarawak border region and at
7,500 feet (2,300 m) on Mount Kinabalu.
The
Poaching Problem of Sun Bears
One of Borneo's greatest resources is its forests of giant tropical
hardwoods. To harvest this wealth, the trees must be cut down and
made into lumber . Once a region is opened up for logging and the
logs have been hauled away, the remaining road systems provides easy access
for poachers. A common hunting method is to drive a pickup truck
along these back roads at night while sweeping the surrounding area with
a spotlight. (Back in the United States this illegal hunting is called
"jack lighting") When the light shines on an animal, its eyes reflect
a bright glow to the shooters sitting in the back of the truck. The
light also dazzles the animal momentarily just long enough for it to be
blasted with a shotgun.
Vital
Statistics of Sun Bear
the Sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) gets its name from the yellowish
crescent on its chest. This mark varies in size from bear o bear
and sometimes may not be present at all. In some areas of their range,
sun bears are known as honey bears or Malay bears. Weighing between
60 to 143 pounds (27 to 65 kg) this smallest member of the bear tribe
grows only about 4.5 feet (17 cm) in length. In the wild, a sun bear
weighing over 110 pounds (50 kg) is considered big. The sun
bear is covered with short, dense, black fur that at first glance seems
to thick for an animal living in the warm tropics. This sleek and compact animal's muzzle may vary from grayish white
to orange color. It has small, rather beady, eyes and small rounded
ears. The feet, tipped with long sickle shaped claws, are sometimes
colored with gray and have no hair on their sole. Its short bow legs
give it an ungainly appearance when walking. Like other bear, the
sun bear often stands up on its hind legs to get a better view of a distant
object or when it encounters a potential enemy.
Sloth
Bears: Energetic Denizens Southeast Asia
Toward the end of the eighteenth century the
firs pelts of the sloth bear arrived in Europe. Shot by big game
hunters in India, the skins were accompanied by notes asserting that the
animals had trunk like snouts and were in the habit of hanging upside down
in the branches o jungle trees for hours on end. They were
also said to cry like a child The "Unbearlike" Bear the typical bear (Melursus ursinus) has a long, shaggy, unkempt,
black coat, with prominent white or yellow chevron or Y on its chest.
The hair is longer and shaggier than other bears, particularly on the back
of the neck and between the shoulders, which gives the sloth bear a maned
appearance. The belly and underleg hair is sparse, possibly to help
cool the animal on hot days. Its long, dirty white or ray muzzle is equipped with
extremely protrusible lips and with nostrils that can be closed voluntarily.
The bear has no front teeth, and the bony palate is hollowed out.
These adaptations allow the bear to form an efficient vacuum tube with
its lips to suck termites (its staple food) out of their galleries.
Also, the reduced ha on the muzzle may be a special adaptation for coping
with termites sticky defense secretions. The feet have white, blunt, curved claws up to 3 inches (7.6
cm) long. The palms and areas between the pads are somewhat bald,
and the pads of the fingertips are united by hairless webs. Sloth
bears grow to be about 6 feet (1.8 m) long, and stand 3 feet (91 cm) high
at the shoulder. They have a 6 to 7 inch (16 to 18 cm) long tail.
Big males can weigh up to 300 pounds (136 kg). Females are generally
smaller.
Range
and Distribution of Sloth Bears
Somewhere between 7,00 and 10,000 sloth bears are estimated to still
exist in the world. They are found in the forested areas on the island
of Sri Lanka and the Indian subcontinent, northward to the base of the
Himalayas, and eastward to Assam. They are also know t n to occur
in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park. Within its range, the sloth bear
inhabits a wide variety of forest types, ranging from the torn forests
of northern India to the wet tropical forests of the south. Common
in India two decades ago, today the sloth bear appears to be rapidly disappearing
over most of its range. Widespread land clearing and deforestation
seem to be most responsible for the bears declining numbers. There is one bright note to this dismal picture, however.
India’s national effort to protect the Bengal tiger is also helping to
conserve sloth bears and other rare animals that also inhabit the reserves.
In Corbett Tiger Reserve, the number of sloth bears is actually on the
increase.
Feeding
Habits of Sloth Bear
the sloth bears specialized snout makes it an expert termite hunter.
(Termite and ant colonies are some of the most abundant and stable food
sources found on the tropics.) To get at them the bear digs into
the termites hard mound. When the hard clylike wall finally breaks,
the bears inserts its muzzle and blows violently, driving away dust and
debris. Then, with an enormous sucking breath it vacuums up the luckless
termites and their larvae. This stacato sucking and blowing can be
heard up to 200 yards (182 m) away. Their other foods include ants, berries, and the occasionally scavenger
tiger kill. Sloth bears often raid fields of cultivated sugarcane,
corn (maize) or cultivated yams. They need abundant water and are
said to drink at least once a day, in the evening, during the summer. Sloth bears have a particular liking for the fleshy flowers of the
Mohwa tree (Madhuca latifolia). In India, from late march into early
May, there is great competition between bears and people for the flowers,
as villagers collect large quantities of these cream colored blossoms for
making and alcoholic beverage.
Spectacled
Bears: The Short-Faced Bear of South America
The only species of bear living in South America,
spectacled bears (Tremarctos ornatus) are the sole survivors of a subfamily
of short faced bears that ranged across North and South America during
the last Ice Age. Today they are found only in the Andes from Venezuela
to Chile.
General
description of Spectacled Bears
Spectacled bears get their name from the light colored rings around
the eyes that sometimes look like eyeglasses. These tawny markings
vary greatly from bear to bear and sometimes extend from the cheeks to
the chest. Often the pattern is only half-circle around the eyes.
The rest of the coat is black and somewhat shaggy in appearance. Adults weigh from 175 to 275 pounds (80 top 125 kg) and stand about
30 inches (76 cm) high at the shoulder when all fours. Average lengths
are between 4.25 and 6.25 feet (1.3 to 1.9 m). males are larger and
more robust, attaining weights up to 385 pounds (175 kg.) and lengths of
over 7.25 feet (2.2 m), not including thirteen pairs of ribs one less than
other bears. It has a comparatively large skull equipped with strong
teeth and powerful jaws.
Distribution
of the Spectacled Bear
Within its Andean range, small populations of spectacled bears can be
found from coastal desserts at 600 feet (180 m) all the way up to 13,800
feet (4,200 m) at the snow line. In Ecuador, on the western slopes
of the Andres, a few bears are still present in the protected areas of
Cayambe-Coca National Park. Conservation efforts to protect the only
known travel corridor for spectacled bears between the central and eastern
andean ranges has begun o receive some support. A recently created
interagency committee coordinates government actions in the historical
sanctuary at Manchu Picchu, Peru. On the eastern side of the Andes,
where their habitat is lee vulnerable to colonization, the bears are reported
to be more numerous. Spectacled bears have also been found in Venezuela, Colombia,
and Bolivia. Some researchers believe it is possible that spectacled
bears still survive in some groups in a few isolated areas in Panama, Brazil,
and Argentina, but this has not yet been confirmed.
