Bear

A bear is a large mammal in family Ursidae. It is not one species. Eight living species occupy ice, forest, mountain and bamboo habitat across North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The IUCN does not give "bear" a single Red List category.

All living bears share non-retractable claws, a heavy skull and an outstanding sense of smell. Most are omnivores; polar bears hunt seals; giant pandas eat almost only bamboo.

This page is the family encyclopaedia. Named species sit at sun bear, spectacled bear, polar bear and moon bear.

The related appeal explains potential support and the current funding status; this guide does not confirm a WARN grant. It does not run a polar research station.

Eight living species: brown bear (including grizzly), American black bear, polar bear, spectacled (Andean) bear, Asiatic black bear (moon bear), sloth bear, sun bear and giant panda. Extinct short-faced bears are not a ninth living species. A koala is not a bear; a giant panda is.

Genera include Ursus, Helarctos, Melursus, Tremarctos and Ailuropoda. A panda is a bear. A koala is not.

Counts do not move with zoo marketing names. "Grizzly" is a brown bear. "Moon bear" is the Asiatic black bear.

Use the table on this page for IUCN and range. Use a species guide when you have a scientific name.

It depends on the species. American black bears are Least Concern and number over 800,000. Polar, sun, sloth and spectacled bears are Vulnerable. Giant pandas are Vulnerable after recovery from Endangered. Brown bears are Least Concern globally, with some regional populations in trouble.

There is no honest single answer to "are bears endangered". Copying the polar bear's ice story onto a sun bear, or the panda's recovery onto a sloth bear, is how misinformation starts.

CITES Appendix I or II covers most species for international trade. Bile and parts trafficking is a separate crime from legal trophy or hunting debates in North America.

This hub will not rank which bear "needs saving most" as a donation gimmick.

The polar bear is the largest living bear — males can exceed 800 kg. Kodiak brown bears of Alaska rival them in mass. The sun bear is the smallest, typically 25–65 kg, closer to a large dog than a grizzly.

Size is not conservation status. The smallest bear (sun bear) is Vulnerable. The most abundant (American black) is mid-sized.

Cubs are born tiny relative to the mother, often during winter denning in species that hibernate or enter torpor.

Do not use a polar-bear weight as the weight of "a bear". Always name the species.

Most bears are omnivores. Polar bears hunt seals on sea ice. Brown bears take salmon, ungulates, roots and berries. American black bears eat plants, insects and carrion. Giant pandas eat bamboo. Sun bears tear into tropical trees for insects and honey. Spectacled bears eat mostly plants.

Diet follows habitat, not a children's-book personality. A hungry bear near bins is a coexistence problem, not proof that "bears are carnivores".

Feeding wild bears creates dangerous, food-conditioned animals. That is true in Yellowstone and in Southeast Asian villages.

WARN does not post honey from Britain to a sanctuary unless a partner asked in writing. Give at moon bears appeal so partners buy locally.

Bears can kill people. They are not domesticated. Honest risk is food storage, cub defence, surprise encounters and bile-farm handling — not a myth that all bears are cuddly or that all bears are man-eaters. Most species still avoid people when food is secured.

Most species avoid people. Attacks are rare relative to how many bears exist, and they cluster where food is unsecured or habitat is squeezed. Sloth bears have a serious conflict record in parts of India.

Do not copy a polar-bear Arctic protocol onto a sun bear, or a Yosemite bear-spray leaflet onto a bile farm.

If you asked because of Asian farming or trafficking, the programme answer is moon bears appeal, not a one-off zoo visit.

Wild lifespan varies by species and hunting pressure. Many wild bears live about 15–25 years. Well-cared-for animals in sanctuaries can live longer. Polar, brown and black bears that den have a different year to tropical sun bears that may not hibernate.

There is no single "bear lifespan" you can paste into a school worksheet without naming the species.

Cubs typically stay with the mother for one to three years depending on species. A group is not a pride; bears are mostly solitary except for mothers with cubs.

Lifespan is biology. It is not an IUCN generation length for the whole family.

Bear bile farming keeps moon bears and sun bears in cages and extracts bile from the gallbladder for traditional medicine. Bile contains ursodeoxycholic acid; synthetic and farmed-free alternatives exist. Farming remains legal in China; Vietnam banned extraction in 2005. Cubs are also taken for pets.

This is a welfare and trafficking crisis, not an IUCN extinction badge for every Ursid. American black bears are not the bile-farm story.

WARN's moon-bear appeal at moon bears appeal funds partner sanctuary care and rescue in Indonesia and Malaysia. That is not a named-bear adoption with photos from a cage.

Do not buy bile products. Do not volunteer untrained at a farm raid.

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are marine-adapted hunters of seals on sea ice, listed Vulnerable because that ice is disappearing. Brown bears (Ursus arctos), including grizzlies, are omnivores of forest, mountain and tundra, listed Least Concern globally. They can hybridise where ranges meet. They are different species.

A polar bear is not a white grizzly. Keeping either as a pet is not a breed choice.

The table on this page lists all eight species. Polar detail: polar bear. Himalayan brown bears have a separate guide.

Climate policy is not a WARN polar-tagging programme. Do not donate to WARN expecting an Arctic field team.

Yes. The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a bear, not a raccoon, despite the old taxonomic argument. It eats almost only bamboo and was downlisted from Endangered to Vulnerable after habitat protection and breeding programmes in China. Red pandas are not bears.

Pandas are not native to WARN's current grant countries. This hub mentions them because "are pandas bears" is a real query. WARN does not claim a panda field programme.

Red pandas are not bears. They are in a different family.

If the search was panda merch, stop. If the search was Asian bear bile, stay on moon bears appeal.

Bears live in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Polar bears use Arctic sea ice. Spectacled bears use Andean cloud forest. Sun bears use Southeast Asian rainforest. Sloth bears use the Indian subcontinent. There are no wild bears in Antarctica, Australia or most of Africa.

The related appeal explains potential support and the current funding status; this guide does not confirm a WARN grant. Other ranges are education.

Free-roaming "bears" in British woods are not a native population. Sighting panics are usually dogs, pigs or hoaxes.

Country pages: Indonesia, Malaysia, Colombia.

Match the species to the programme. Moon and sun bear sanctuary: moon bears appeal. Andean spectacled bear: andean bears appeal. Polar and panda queries are not WARN field programmes.

Do not invent a unit cost for one named bile-farm rescue. Appeal figures are illustrations, not a cage invoice.

Read sun bear and spectacled bear before you pay. US donors: WARN is not a 501(c)(3).

If you want a UK zoo visit, stop here. If you want partner grants, use the appeal URLs.