A bear that eats berries and ants. Brown bear food. Getting ants. Types of bears, names and photos

Representative of the bear family - sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus) has a very peculiar appearance and is noticeably different from the usual brown bear.

Due to its original appearance, this animal is highlighted in separate genus. The body of the beast is covered with a dense matted six of dark color. On his chest he has a light spot almost white color in the shape of latin letter U. In this way he looks like Himalayan bear. The paws of the beast end in elongated claws resembling the claws of a sloth. Despite the long claws, sloth runs very fast.

Photo: Srihari Kulkarni

the most important distinctive feature This predator is a long, light, naked muzzle, which distinguishes it from other relatives. Hair on the muzzle is practically absent. The beast has extremely mobile lips, capable of stretching into a long tube. He does not have front incisors, but there is a long tongue that he protrudes from his mouth, closing one or another nostril. Thanks to these features, the animal has an excellent tool for obtaining food, working on the principle of a vacuum pump.

The fact is that the sloth bear feeds on termites and ants. Having found the anthill, he destroys the outer shell with strong claws, puts his muzzle inside and draws the ants into the mouth. The loud snort it makes during this process can be heard within a 200m radius. With a characteristic snort, he betrays his location. In addition to ants and termites, the animal loves to eat honey, climbing on tall trees looking for bee nests. In addition, sloth eats fruits, flowers, plant roots, and even corn and sugar cane, for which farmers do not really like it.

The beast leads night image life, resting during the day in secluded places and caves. In this regard, his hearing and vision are poorly developed, but his sense of smell is highly developed. Due to poor eyesight and hearing, the beast can let people close to itself. He is usually not aggressive, and often, noticing the appearance of strangers, he flees. He does not run away to a tree, although he climbs branches perfectly in search of food. Sometimes the instinct of self-defense wakes up in him, in such a situation he becomes dangerous, as he is able to show aggression.

The bear does not fall into hibernation because it lives in places with warm climate, Where all year round there is an opportunity to get food. Males meet with females for mating only a few days a year, from May to July. The rest of the time the animals live alone. The female bears offspring for six and a half months. In September-January, 2-3 cubs are born in a secluded cave. For the first three weeks of life, they are completely blind and helpless.

As soon as the cubs' eyes are cut through, they begin to go hunting with their mother. You can often meet a female sloth bear with cubs on her back. During this period, the family leads a daytime lifestyle, fearing the attack of nocturnal predators. Apart from tigers and leopards, the sloth bear has no enemies. After 2-3 years, the cubs become sexually mature and begin to live separately. Males do not take part in raising cubs.

The average weight of an adult animal is 100 kg, and females are usually one third lighter than males. The body length reaches 180 cm, not counting the small ten-centimeter tail. The height at the withers of the animal is about 90 cm.

The sloth bear can be found almost throughout India. It also inhabits the hilly areas of Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Republic of Bangladesh. He does not like to live high in the mountains, as well as in the valleys with high humidity. Favorite place bear habitats are dry forests and small hills with rocky outcrops.

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To the question Why do bears look for anthills in spring? For what? given by the author User deleted the best answer is By the time the bear leaves the den, the bear sheds: the wool that has fallen into shreds begins to crawl out. forest mice drag this wool for their nests.

What does the bear do when he wakes up?
First of all, he goes to look for anthills. The anthill is a particularly pleasant find for him. It will rip everything up, scatter it far around. He licks his paws and puts them on the ant. Insects fuss, climb on bear paws in black crowds. He licks them off and reaches for a new portion with a clawed paw.

He breaks open rotten stumps and looks for fat larvae of woodcutter beetles and other insects that feed on wood. He eats everything: he catches frogs, lizards, - in a word, whatever he comes across. Digs bulbs and tubers of plants from the ground.
You can often meet a bear in the berry fields, he greedily eats last year's berries, preserved under the snow.
Sometimes a hungry bear attacks moose, deer.

Answer from 22 answers[guru]

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Gubach is very different in appearance and way of life from real bears ( Ursus) and is classified as a separate genus. It is easily recognizable by its long and mobile snout, and its lips are bare and can strongly protrude (hence the name), forming a kind of proboscis.

The sizes are small, but larger than the biruang bear. The body length of the sloth is up to 180 cm, the tail is another 10-12 cm, the height at the withers is 60-90 cm; it weighs 54-140 kg (usually 90-115 kg). Males are 30-40% larger than females.

The general appearance of the sloth is typically bearish. The body is massive, on high legs. The head is large, with a flat forehead and a strongly elongated muzzle. The fur is long, shaggy, forming a semblance of an untidy mane on the neck and shoulders. The color is mostly glossy black, but often with an admixture of gray, brown or reddish hair. Sometimes there are red or reddish-brown individuals. The end of the muzzle is always dirty grey; there is a distinct light spot on the chest, similar to the letter V or Y.

Adaptation to the peculiarities of nutrition

Spreading

Gubach is common in the forests of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Until the middle of it was quite common, now rare.

Lifestyle and nutrition

Gubach lives in tropical and subtropical forests, preferring hilly areas, but on great height does not rise. Raw lowlands are also avoided. Leads a predominantly nocturnal lifestyle, sleeps during the day tall grass, among shrubs or in caves. Only females with cubs often switch to a diurnal lifestyle in order to avoid encounters with nocturnal predators.

The sloth is active throughout the year; does not hibernate, but becomes inactive during the rainy season.

The sense of smell is well developed, but vision and hearing are weak, so it is easy to sneak up very close to the sloth. The clumsy appearance of the sloth bear is deceptive - this bear is able to run faster than a human. Often climbs trees to eat fruits, but does not escape from danger on trees. As a rule, sloths are not very aggressive, but they can defend themselves if a person gets too close. However, during the period from April to March, 735 sloth attacks on people were recorded, 48 of which were fatal.

Sloths are attacked only by large predators, like tigers and leopards.

reproduction

Life expectancy in captivity is about 40 years.

Population status and significance to humans

The sloth bear is listed in the International Red Book with the status of "threatened species" ( endangered). The species is also included in Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), so these bears are extremely rare in zoological collections. Their total number in the city did not exceed 10,000 individuals.

Sloths have been exterminated predominantly as pests of sugar cane, corn, date palm and apiary plantations, and for their perceived aggressiveness. Their skin is of little value, and their meat is considered inedible. gall bladders used in traditional Asian medicine. Another threat to the number of sloths is the destruction of their habitual habitat - deforestation and the destruction of termite mounds.

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Bear is the most large predator on the ground. This animal belongs to the class of mammals, order carnivores, family bears, genus bears ( Ursus). The bear appeared on the planet about 6 million years ago and has always been a symbol of power and strength.

Bear - description, characteristics, structure. What does a bear look like?

Depending on the species, the body length of a predator can vary from 1.2 to 3 meters, and the weight of a bear varies from 40 kg to a ton. The body of these animals is large, stocky, with a thick, short neck and a large head. Powerful jaws make it easy to gnaw both plant and meat food. The limbs are rather short and slightly curved. Therefore, the bear walks, swaying from side to side, and rests on the entire foot. The speed of a bear in moments of danger can reach 50 km / h. With the help of large and sharp claws, these animals extract food from the ground, tear apart prey and climb trees. Many bear species are good swimmers. The polar bear has a special membrane between the fingers for this. The life expectancy of a bear can reach 45 years.

Bears are no different sharp eyesight and well-developed hearing. This is offset by a great sense of smell. Sometimes animals stand on their hind legs in order to obtain information about the environment with the help of scent.

thick bear fur, covering the body, has a different color: from reddish-brown to black, white in polar bears or black and white for pandas. Species with dark fur turn gray and gray in old age.

Does a bear have a tail?

Yes, but only the giant panda has a noticeable tail. In other species, it is short and almost indistinguishable in the fur.

Types of bears, names and photos

In the bear family, zoologists distinguish 8 species of bears, which are divided into many different subspecies:

• Brown bear ( common bear) (Ursus arctos)

The appearance of a predator of this species is typical for all representatives of the bear family: a powerful body, rather high at the withers, a massive head with rather small ears and eyes, a short, slightly noticeable tail, and large paws with very powerful claws. The body of a brown bear is covered with thick hair with a brownish, dark gray, reddish color, which varies from the habitat of the "clubfoot". Baby bear cubs often have large light tan marks on the chest or in the neck area, although these marks disappear with age.

The distribution range of the brown bear is wide: it is found in mountain systems Alps and on the Apennine Peninsula, distributed in Finland and the Carpathians, feels comfortable in Scandinavia, Asia, China, in the northwest of the United States and in Russian forests.

• Polar (white) bear (Ursus maritimus)

Is the most major representative families: the length of his body often reaches 3 meters, and the mass can exceed one ton. At Long neck and a slightly flattened head - this distinguishes it from its counterparts in other species. The color of the bear's coat is from boiling white to slightly yellowish, the hairs inside are hollow, so they give the bear's "fur coat" excellent thermal insulation properties. The soles of the paws are densely “lined” with tufts of coarse wool, which allows polar bear easy to move on the ice cover without slipping. Between the toes of the paws there is a membrane that facilitates the process of swimming. The habitat of this species of bears is the polar regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

• Baribal (black bear) (Ursus americanus)

The bear is a bit like a brown relative, but differs from it in its smaller size and blue-black fur. The length of an adult baribal does not exceed two meters, and the female bear is even smaller - their body usually has a length of 1.5 meters. pointed muzzle, long paws, ending with fairly short feet - this is what this representative of the bears is remarkable for. By the way, baribals can become black only by the third year of life, at birth getting a gray or brownish color. The habitat of the black bear is vast: from the expanses of Alaska to the territories of Canada and hot Mexico.

• Malayan bear (biruang) (Helarctos malyanus)

The most "miniature" species among its bear counterparts: its length does not exceed 1.3-1.5 meters, and the height at the withers is slightly more than half a meter. This type of bear has a stocky build, a short, rather wide muzzle with small, round ears. The paws of the Malayan bear are high, while large, long feet with huge claws look a little disproportionate. The body is covered with short and very hard black-brown fur, the chest of the animal is “adorned” with a white-red spot. Malayan bear lives in southern regions China, Thailand and Indonesia.

• White-breasted (Himalayan) bear (Ursus thibetanus)

The slender physique of the Himalayan bear is not too different large sizes- this representative of the family is two times smaller than the brown relative: the male has a length of 1.5-1.7 meters, while the height at the withers is only 75-80 cm, the females are even smaller. The body of a bear, covered with shiny and silky hair of dark brown or black, is crowned by a head with a pointed muzzle and large round ears. An obligatory "attribute" of the appearance of the Himalayan bear is a spectacular white or yellowish spot on the chest. This type of bear lives in Iran and Afghanistan, is found in mountainous areas The Himalayas, on the territory of Korea, Vietnam, China and Japan, feel at ease in the open spaces Khabarovsk Territory and in the south of Yakutia.

• spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus)

Medium-sized predator - length 1.5-1.8 meters, height at the withers from 70 to 80 cm. The muzzle is short, not too wide. Wool spectacled bear shaggy, has a black or black-brown hue, around the eyes there are necessarily white-yellow rings, smoothly turning into a whitish "collar" of fur on the animal's neck. The habitat of this species of bears is the country South America: Colombia and Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama.

• Gubach (Melursus ursinus)

A predator with a body length of up to 1.8 meters, at the withers, the height varies from 65 to 90 centimeters, females are approximately 30% smaller than males in both indicators. The trunk of the sloth is massive, the head is large, with a flat forehead and an overly elongated muzzle, which ends in mobile, completely devoid of hair, protruding lips. The bear's fur is long, usually black or dirty-brown in color, often forming a semblance of a shaggy mane in the neck of the animal. The chest of the sloth bear has a light spot. The habitat of this species of bears is India, some parts of Pakistan, Bhutan, the territory of Bangladesh and Nepal.

• Big panda (bamboo bear) (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

This type of bear has a massive, squat body, which is covered with dense, thick black and white fur. The paws are short, thick, with sharp claws and absolutely hairless pads: this allows pandas to firmly hold smooth and slippery bamboo stems. The structure of the front paws of these bears is very unusually developed: five ordinary fingers are complemented by a large sixth, although it is not a real finger, but is a modified bone. Such amazing paws enable the panda to easily manage the thinnest bamboo shoots. The bamboo bear lives in the mountainous regions of China, especially large populations live in Tibet and Sichuan.

During the period of feeding on vegetation, the bear constantly consumes animal food in small quantities. Among animal feed, one of the main places is occupied by ants - the first suppliers of animal food after mother's milk. Animals detect these insects with the help of smell, and sometimes for many tens of meters.

The first reaction to anthills was noted in experimental cubs at the age of 4 months. It was the time of the awakening of the forest from its winter sleep. The main anthills have not yet begun to function, and the dry forest stump, which has long rotted through, warmed up in the sun, and ants have already “flowed” in its loose wood through numerous passages. The bear cubs intensively destroyed the rotten stump, sniffed out something in the red rubble, tried to pick out crawling insects with their tongues. At the age of 4.5 months. they have already actively examined the trunks of fallen and dying trees with rotten bark. For hours, kids could mess around with such trees, tearing off the bark in pieces and looking for bark beetle larvae under it. Sometimes, if the bark is not too raw, sunny side under it you can find larvae and pupae carried out by ants to warm up - this was the most delicious prey for cubs.

In cubs aged about 6 months. a special behavior is manifested, aimed at searching for and destroying small anthills in earthen nests. It was at the end of June and at the beginning of July that all the cubs under our supervision began to look for anthills and ate the contents of the nesting chamber. In the very first days, they roughly destroyed the anthill, mixing the contents of the nesting chamber with the ground and construction waste, and tried to select highly conspicuous ant larvae, eggs, and pupae. But already on the third or fourth day, the cubs began to make peculiar movements, which allowed them to quickly open the nesting chamber.

Having found an anthill with the help of smell (an earthen mound hardly noticeable in the grass or not at all noticeable among the monotonous moss tussocks), the bear cub set to work. Acting alternately with his right and then with his left paw, the baby carefully parted the most upper layer anthill (outer dome) and quickly, with a few precise movements of the tongue, eat away the contents of the nesting chamber. At the same time, peculiar nods of the head were observed, when the bear cub was guided by the nesting chamber with the help of vision, and then it slightly raised its head and launched its tongue at the place that it had just looked at. Such feeding behavior ensures the most complete eating of the contents of the anthill and becomes clear if you get acquainted with the structure of the most common earthen nest of ants (see article number 13).

Observations of bear cubs eating ants were carried out by us many times and in different years. These studies, as well as data from field observations of family groups of bears, show that in late June and July, cubs of the year feed most intensively on ants in the border zones between green moss spruce forests and overgrown clearings. Here, small anthills are most densely located - on a meadow or moss tussocks. Bear cubs repeatedly go out to feed on the same places and almost completely eat out ants in separate areas, and their excrement at this time has a black color, an oily, shiny film and a rather heavy cadaverous smell. Between raids on anthills, babies feed on grassy vegetation. The sites where they eat ants are very poorly inhabited by these insects the next year, and the cubs do not visit them. The period of the beginning of intensive feeding of underyearlings by ants coincides with the end of lactation in the she-bear. During this period, umbrella plants grow abundantly and the first berries appear.

Studies have shown that in bear cubs of the year that get ants from earthen nests, the food-procuring stereotype is formed within 2-4 days. This stereotype was similar in all bear cubs of the year (n = 7) who had contact with natural environment in different years, and ensured efficient extraction of insects from minimal cost time and energy. It can be argued that this the only way feeding a brown bear with animal feed, which contributes to the almost complete consumption of the food component (ants) in a certain area.

For cubs older than 18 months. changes in behavior were observed when feeding on ants: at the sight of insects running around the dome of the anthill, the grown animal became excited, quickly covered the scattering ants with its paws, and then slightly opened them and licked the insects. Often, in a fit of excitement, he roughly destroyed the anthill and, having managed to choose almost nothing from the mixed heap, left. Such anthills were restored in a week. We believe that the very sight of the fleeing ants stimulated the manifestation of the predatory instinct, and the animal abruptly began to destroy the anthill with its claws. Eating ants by bears is observed everywhere within the entire range.

Adult bears cause the main damage to anthills in the spring, and the growing young in the summer. Ants are a high-calorie food component, it is especially important for cubs during the period when their mother stops feeding. The quantity and quality of this food can be judged from the data characterizing the average feeding activity of a cub at the age of 5.5 months.

The observations were made on June 25, 1982, from 09:00 to 18:30. During this time, the bear cub unearthed 134 earthen anthills and one in a rotten stump. The average weight of the contents of an earthen anthill (ants, larvae, pupae at the time of opening), according to our sample (n = 35), was 2.2 g, and the weight of ants eaten per day, their larvae, eggs and pupae was 294 g (excluding insects caught by a bear cub in a rotten stump). On the same day, the beast ate 3 eggs of a song thrush, having found an abandoned nest.

When digging up 134 anthills and eating 30 vegetation, we recorded 33 movements of the bear cub with pronounced search and search-exploratory reactions. Total time, spent on the search, was 22 min, and the average time of manifestation of one research reaction was 47 s (lim 5-180 s). The bear cub spent 1 h 10 min 35 s on cutting and chewing plant food, of which 4 min 35 s for eating goutweed and aspen leaves, 53 min for the bear's pipe, and 13 min for other food. The time spent on obtaining and eating ants from earthen nests was 1 h 31 min 16 s, and it took an average of 23 s to open one anthill and eat the contents of the nest chamber (lim 5–50 s).