Post by OldGreenVulture on Jun 27, 2019 11:22:05 GMT
Sun Bear - Helarctos malayanus
I made this Sun Bear “profile”; hopefully it is decent enough, as I know very little (and have very little sources talking about) this species of Bear.
Quite likely not much exists, considering that this is one of the most understudied species of Ursid, and rather little is known about it at all, as is evident by the fact it is widely considered the most aggressive species of Bear, and many “credible” sites also say this, despite the fact that it, indeed, never attacks unless clearly provoked and not faced with other alternatives...
As with all Bear species, the males are larger then the females, but in this species, only by a little.
Sun Bears are about 4 feet long, and averages at around 100lbs, with males achieving weights as large as 145lbs.
Due to it's warm climate, which causes no winter food shortages, it has no need to hibernate, and therefore doesn't.
It, as with most species of Bears (even more so the arboreal ones), the Sun Bear eats primarily vegetation, although it is omnivorous, eating such things as “small vertebrates such as lizards, birds, and other mammals, in addition to fruits, eggs, termites, the young tips of palm trees, nests of bees, berries, sprouts, insects, roots, cocoa, and coconuts.” (from: Wikipedia).
Paws are sickle shaped, designed to let it get a good hold of trees; as is suggested by it being both arboreal, and being a forest dwelling Bear.
Here are some quotes from The Great Bear Almanac, by Gary Brown, on the Sun Bear:
The world's smallest bears, the “Malay bears” live north and south of the equator. Considered “one of the most dangerous animals a human can encounter in the jungle,” according to Domico.
Sun bear research has long been a low priority on the Malay Peninsula and in other areas where the bear occurs, so minimal information is available on this small, strange and fascinating animal that is also referred to as the “honey bear.”
The sun bear occurs in a tropical climate; it's population spans the equator. One of the rarest tropical forest animals, it is also the smallest and most lightly built bear (one hundred pounds is considered big). Black to dark brown in color, it has a whitish to pale orange/yellow horseshoe-shaped chest marking that is thought to resemble the sun; hence name. Its fur is short, the hair unusually thick for a tropical climate, and there is no hair on the soles of the paws. The head is short, wide and flat, with small, beady eyes, a highly flexible snout, and an extremely long, slender tongue. The muscular body has short, bowed legs (the front legs are quite powerful), large, inwardly set feet (making the beat bandy legged), and long and sickle-shaped claws. The sun bear does not hibernate and its gestation period is not prolonged, nor is there delayed implantation.
As a note, delayed implantation does occur with most Bear species.
On topic of skulls, the description for the Sun Bear's is (the shorter then all the other descriptions):
On subject of teeth (only third shortest description):
On topic of associations between bears (only second shortest description this time):
On subject of marking (shortest of the five listed):
And on subject of attacking (it has the shortest description once again):
Well, that is all for now (if I find more later I will post that as well), though, as a final comment, the reason I always mentioned how short the description for the Sun Bear in each category was is to help bring out how little information on it is really known...[/quote]
Credited to Ursus Artos
I made this Sun Bear “profile”; hopefully it is decent enough, as I know very little (and have very little sources talking about) this species of Bear.
Quite likely not much exists, considering that this is one of the most understudied species of Ursid, and rather little is known about it at all, as is evident by the fact it is widely considered the most aggressive species of Bear, and many “credible” sites also say this, despite the fact that it, indeed, never attacks unless clearly provoked and not faced with other alternatives...
As with all Bear species, the males are larger then the females, but in this species, only by a little.
Sun Bears are about 4 feet long, and averages at around 100lbs, with males achieving weights as large as 145lbs.
Due to it's warm climate, which causes no winter food shortages, it has no need to hibernate, and therefore doesn't.
It, as with most species of Bears (even more so the arboreal ones), the Sun Bear eats primarily vegetation, although it is omnivorous, eating such things as “small vertebrates such as lizards, birds, and other mammals, in addition to fruits, eggs, termites, the young tips of palm trees, nests of bees, berries, sprouts, insects, roots, cocoa, and coconuts.” (from: Wikipedia).
Paws are sickle shaped, designed to let it get a good hold of trees; as is suggested by it being both arboreal, and being a forest dwelling Bear.
Here are some quotes from The Great Bear Almanac, by Gary Brown, on the Sun Bear:
The world's smallest bears, the “Malay bears” live north and south of the equator. Considered “one of the most dangerous animals a human can encounter in the jungle,” according to Domico.
Sun bear research has long been a low priority on the Malay Peninsula and in other areas where the bear occurs, so minimal information is available on this small, strange and fascinating animal that is also referred to as the “honey bear.”
The sun bear occurs in a tropical climate; it's population spans the equator. One of the rarest tropical forest animals, it is also the smallest and most lightly built bear (one hundred pounds is considered big). Black to dark brown in color, it has a whitish to pale orange/yellow horseshoe-shaped chest marking that is thought to resemble the sun; hence name. Its fur is short, the hair unusually thick for a tropical climate, and there is no hair on the soles of the paws. The head is short, wide and flat, with small, beady eyes, a highly flexible snout, and an extremely long, slender tongue. The muscular body has short, bowed legs (the front legs are quite powerful), large, inwardly set feet (making the beat bandy legged), and long and sickle-shaped claws. The sun bear does not hibernate and its gestation period is not prolonged, nor is there delayed implantation.
As a note, delayed implantation does occur with most Bear species.
On topic of skulls, the description for the Sun Bear's is (the shorter then all the other descriptions):
On subject of teeth (only third shortest description):
On topic of associations between bears (only second shortest description this time):
On subject of marking (shortest of the five listed):
And on subject of attacking (it has the shortest description once again):
Sun Bear: Normally attacks only in defense; barks loudly when attacking.
Well, that is all for now (if I find more later I will post that as well), though, as a final comment, the reason I always mentioned how short the description for the Sun Bear in each category was is to help bring out how little information on it is really known...[/quote]
Credited to Ursus Artos