The Sun Bear
I’d say of all the bears, the sun bear is my favorite. Smallest of all bears, sun bears range between between about 40-132 pounds and are only about 4′ long [1]. A very short tail adds only about 2″ to the average sun bear.
Sun bears have funny looking, rounded claws and bare paw-pads to help with climbing. They like to eat ANYTHING including, but not limited to, lizards, eggs, small mammals, other sun bears [2], fruits and other tasty vegetation.
Fortunately, the worst thing that would generally happen to a sun bear is to be eaten by a tiger or a python. Humans do kill bears for destroying crops and, apparently, there is some poaching, but often humans just use them for pets, which isn’t so bad. Many bears in Southeast Asia have much worse fates at the hands of humans. Would you believe that Asiatic black bears are kept in cages and used for their bile in China and Vietnam [3]? They actually believe that bear bile has healing properties. This behavior is absolutely disgusting. No wonder they embrace communism.
Here’s sun bears in action:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFMT3WRbk_g]
Sun bears are listed as vulnerable, so we need to keep an eye on them [4].
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Bear (all sun bear facts presented here are from this reference)
[2] Just kidding!
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bile_bear
[4] My fiancee doesn’t actually believe that sun bears exist. I need to spread awareness.
Hello,
I also think that it’s horrible that people poach the sun bears and the Asiatic black bears for their bile. I’ve also found out that along with their bile, their fur is used in Chinese medicine. This is hard thing to imagine because I hate the fact that people actually kill these animals for so little. However, I don’t think it’s right for humans to keep the sun bears as pets as they are not a domesticated animal, and aren’t meant to live in a confined area. They need to be in the wild, where they belong, and be able to fend for themselves. According to Bearplanet.org (http://www.bearplanet.org/sunbear.shtml) sun bears are kept as pets, but after three or four years, they become uncontrollable and then are either killed or abandoned. If they are abandoned, they cause even more trouble to other people and in the end, will be killed. This could be another reason why sooner or later, they will extinct; Poaching and an unhealthy environment. Also, seeing as the Asian tropical rain forests are being destroyed, the habitats of the sun bears is being demolished, and they are the fastest declining bear population. We need to put an end to this poaching, and the unnecessary killing on the sun bears!
Thank you for the thoughtful comments. I am very glad that there are like-minded people on the internet advocating Sun Bears (and all bears). Comments like this make my work on this website rewarding; and thank you for the great link, which will be listed among my endorsements.