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bears are mammalsBears Are Mammals

Bears are large, strong omnivores. Omnivore is a fancy word for animals that eat both meat and plants.  They belong to the mammal class.  Why?  Because they are covered in hair, they have a spine, they’re warm-blooded and they feed milk to their babies once they are born.

Many people often think of bears as big, ferocious creatures that are brown, black or white.  Bears are much more than that.  They are definitely big, and yes, they are very strong.  They can be scary, but most will only become aggressive when threatened or when their babies are threatened and even then many species of bear won’t attack.  Bears are solitary and quite docile animals that have been given a bad reputation.  They are smart, shy and are great at hiding when they need to.  There is very little information on some bears because researchers have a hard time finding them!

Bears come in many different colors, shape, and sizes and they live all over the world, except Antarctica and Australia.  Their habitats range from the snowy northern tundra to dense rainforests and high mountains.  Most species of bears live to around 25 years of age.

There are eight different species of bears.  They are Asiatic, Black, Brown, Polar, Panda, Sloth, Spectacled and Sun.  Some of these species has a few sub-species.  For example, the sub-species of the brown bear include the Grizzly bear and the Kodiak bear.


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