Status:  Populations of most bear species are declining. All eight species of bear are listed as critically endangered by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Description & Special Features:  A bear may stand over 10 feet tall on its hind legs and can weigh more than 680 kilogram (for example Alaskan kodiak bear or Artic polar bear).  The body weight varies between 25 and 800 kilograms, whereby the males become always clearly heavier than the females. Bears are usually brown or black in color,  exceptions are the Giant Panda with its remarkable black-and-white skin design and the white polar bear. Bears are powerfully built creatures with small eyes and ears, large claws and a slow, ambling gait that can quickly shift to surprising bursts of speed. Bears can if necessary run up to 50 km/h.

Bears generally lead solitary lives, except for mothers attending her cubs, or males and females during mating season. Bears form temporary groups only when food is plentiful in a small area.
Alaskan brown bears group in the same area to feed on salmon during the annual salmon runs, when the fish swim upriver to reach their spawning grounds. Other bears may live alone but exist in a social network. A male and female may live in an overlapping home range, each defending their range from other bears of the same sex. Male young usually leave their mothers to live in other areas, but females often live in an area that overlaps that of their mother.

Bears travel over large territories in search of food, remembering the details of the landscape they cover. They use their excellent memories to return to locations where food was plentiful in past years or seasons. Most bears are able to climb trees to chase prey or gain access to additional vegetation. The only exceptions are polar bears and large adult brown bears, whose heavy weight makes it difficult to climb trees.

Some of the larger species, such as the polar bear and the grizzly bear, are dangerous to humans, especially in areas where they have become used to people. For the most part, bears are shy and are easily frightened of humans. They will, however, defend their cubs ferociously if a situation calls for it.

Range & Habitat:  These eight species live in a diverse range of habitats, from the ice packs surrounding the Arctic to the forests of India and South East Asia.

Diet: A bear's diet depends on what type of bear it is. They are generally omnivores, eating both plants and animals, with a preference for vegetable food.

Threats:  Deforestation and expansion of land used for agriculture have seriously impacted upon bear habitats. Bears are hunted legally for recreation. They are also poached for their skins as rugs and trophies. Body parts from bears are used to supply the traditional Chinese medicine trade and exotic meat market.

Their fat, skin, paws, bones, claws and other parts are used for traditional medicines, meals in expensive restaurants or as charms. Bear gall bladders and bile are used to treat a wide variety of ailments from burns to liver disorders.

Bear Farming
In the 1980's, China set up bear farms to extract the bile from the gallbladders of living bears. Despite its original intentions to 'conserve' bears, farming bears has created problems of its own. Over 7,000 bears, originally taken from the wild are kept in bear farms in China. This is cheaper than breeding bears in captivity.

Because of the demand for stock bear farms, as few as 12,000 bears may be left locally in the wild. As it is cheaper, farmed bile has actually increased the market for bear parts. Farmed bile is smuggled all over the world, but it is still viewed as inferior to bile from a wild bear because of the poor conditions in the farms.

Wild bears continue to be poached for their gall in China. At the farms, bile is surgically extracted from the gall bladder through a steel tube surgically inserted into the body of the bear. This device often causes pain and infection. The bears are kept in very small cages in which they can barely move. As well as destroying their muscles and bones, this confinement causes deep psychological disturbance to the animals. Most sway from side to side repetitively. Compared to an average twenty-five year life expectancy in the wild, farmed bears usually only survive between four and ten years. Physically debilitated and psychologically disturbed, these bears can never be released back into the wild but can thankfully be transferred to a sanctuary such as those operated by Animals Asia Foundation or WSPA so that they may lead a relatively much healthier life.

Both farmed and wild captured or poached bears will have their fat, skin, paws, bones, claws and other parts removed for use in traditional medicines, meals in expensive restaurants or as charms.

Trade in Body Parts
Over 7,000 bears are kept in bear farms in China. In the farms, bile from the gall is extracted through a steel tube surgically inserted into the body of the bear. This process causes extreme pain, infection and distress. The bears are kept in very small cages in which they can barely move. As well as destroying their muscles and bones, this cruel confinement causes deep psychological disturbance to the bears.

Compared with the average 25 year life expectancy of a wild bear, these caged creatures only survive between four to ten years.

Consumers
The largest consumers of bear products are Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China and Asian communities through out the world.

Alternatives
Ready alternatives are available in traditional Chinese medicine from herbs. There is even a synthetic version of bear gall made from cow gall known as UDCA. This is manufactured in large quantities and is widely available at a fraction of the cost of bear gall.

Field Project
Although Thailand's populations of Sun bear and Asiatic black bear are much reduced and trade in each is prohibited, there is an active trade in bears for restaurants.

Tourists, mainly from Korea, come to Thailand to eat bears. Bear-paw soup has been seen on menus for over a thousand US dollars per plate. Thai authorities seize any bears they find in trade, but they are running out of places to keep them. In July 1996, another 30 live bears were seized from a restaurant.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Royal Forestry Department of Thailand have set up a sanctuary where these bears can be kept in naturalistic conditions. There is also an education centre where people can learn about bears.

Sources & Further Information:
CITES www.cites.org
www.bearplanet.org
www.wikipedia.org

What you can do:

NEVER BUY BEAR PRODUCTS

Persuade your friends and relatives never to buy them by explaining that they are causing the killing and possible extinction of bears.

If you see bear parts on sale inform the authorities.

Warn any potential buyers that they risk fines and even jail if they are caught.

Help to raise money to support conservation projects to protect bears in the wild.

Write to your Government representatives asking them to do more to ban all trade in bear parts and to do more for endangered species.

Sign ACAP's Global Peoples' Petition for Wildlife