|
|
"To enter the domain of another dominant creature, the bear, has the power to humble us and open our minds to the wonderment of our world."
- Don Middleton
or if
you prefer, a ROARING ( 
) welcome! This web site is dedicated to the following goals:
contributing to a comprehensive understanding of all members of
the URSIDAE (bear) family;
allowing visitors to share in a visual and written celebration of the wonder we experience
in the presence of bears; and
supporting the successful cohabitation of bears and humans upon
the earth.
Be sure to scan this entire page to see the wealth and depth of information now available to you!
Late Breaking BEAR DEN News Stories
THE CUB DEN, a website for young readers, is a companion site to The Bear Den. Recognizing that many visitors are young readers, this companion website encourages younger children to find out more about bears.. The age-appropriate site contains Ten Facts About Bears; Amazing Facts About Bears; and Books for Young Readers. To take a tour, go to THE CUB DEN.
Zookeepers at the Denver Zoo have
just announced the names for the two new polar bear cubs born at the zoo. The male cub has
been named Ulaq, the Inuit name meaning ``morning'' which is when Ulaq was born. The
female cub has been named Berit to honor the great granddaughter of the Denver Zoo's first
donor. There had been speculation that both cubs would receive Inuit names. They were born
to Ulu last month and have been the main attraction at the zoo since their birth. Zoo
officials hope the new cubs will be as famous as Klondike and Snow, former polar cubs born
at the Zoo who now reside at a tourist park in Orlando, Florida.
The San Diego Zoo has established a
joint working arrangement with the Mexico City Zoo in an attempt to save the giant panda.
Dr.Don Lindberg, the Zoo's giant panda research head, says both zoos have committed
themselves to trying to significantly increase the captive population of giant pandas. The
Mexico City Zoo presently has four giant pandas. This spring, zookeepers with the San
Diego Zoo will assist in the artificial insemination of one of the four Mexican pandas.
Last year, the San Diego Zoo researchers were unsuccessful in their efforts to
artificially inseminate a female giant panda they currently have on a 12-year research
loan from China.
If you have news which you believe is timely, relevant and should be shared, please contact the editor.
According to taxonomic criteria, bears are classed as follows:
kingdom - Animalia phylum - Chordata class - Mammalia order - Carnivora family - Ursidae (the Latin word for bear) Both the evolution of bears and the common species characteristics by which we can describe the modern archetypal bear have been areas of intense study by researchers for many years. Several of the original bear species have become extinct over the past several millennia. With the exception of Africa, Australia and Antarctica, bears once roamed widely throughout all of the other major land masses of the world.
At present, there are eight different species or genus of bears. They include:
Brown and Grizzly
Bears (Ursus arctos)
American Black Bears
(Ursus americanus)
Giant Pandas
(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
Asiatic Black
bears (Ursus thibetanus)
Spectacled
Bears (Tremarctos ornatus)
Sloth Bears
(Melursus ursinus)
Sun Bears
(Helarctos malayanus)
In addition to the specific information provided about each of the eight bear species, please check out the following resources unique to The Bear Den:
The Bear Den News Bear Conservancy Organizations