Bear – Page 3 – See Animals Wild

Species watch

All species are important, often reintroductions have failed because a small unnoticed animal was missed. Over time, we will amass pages for as many species as possible. However, just as important is seeing how species are closely related. As such as well as looking at species from a specific ecosystem or family, we will also include family trees of many of the families on earth. It should be noted, that this is to help you find wildlife you wish to see, so will never link to every species. In either way, these links to these will be placed at the top.

Mammal family tree

Wild cat family

Bovini or cattle family tree

Equidae: Genus for horses (horses, donkeys and zebra)

Cervidae family (deer) here red deer

Camelid family (camels and Llamas)

Pinnipeds: Seals, Sealions, Fur Seals and walruses

Crocodiles, Alligators, Caimans, Gharials, False Gharials

Emporer-penguins Genus Aptenodytes Not threatened 256,000 breeding pairs

Flightless birds

Predatory birds

sea, water birds and waders

Mid to small birds

Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises Species

Shark Species

Tiger - all subspecies

Jaguar

Lion - all subspecies

Leopard - all subspecies

Clouded Leopard & Sunda Clouded Leopard

Snow Leopard

Cheetah - all subspecies

Lynx family (this is the Eurasian Lynx)

Bear species (the rest of the family)

Red panda

Hyrax family tree (yellow spotted hyrax)

Sus or pig family

bee eater familly

Vulture family tree

Hedgehog - European hedgehog and family

Hamster family (Turkish hamster )

Elephant shrew (western rock elephant shrew)

Beaver species

Common vole (possibly vole family in future)

Domestic goats and Ibex family

Naked mole rat family

Mexican ground squirrel and the ground squirrel family

Large treeshrew photo credit Daderot CC0 1.0

Rat family (brown rat)

Pangolin family

Eagle family

Owl family

March 11, 2022June 28, 2022

Return of the bear wolf and lynx to France and western Europe

The recovery of wolves bears and lynx over the last several generations in western Europe has been nothing short of astounding.

In the 1960s the population of the iberian wolf did not number more than a few hundred, yet now there are 2500. Similarly, bears got very low but now more than 300 roam – though this still has some way to go. The Iberian lynx was not heavily hunted, yet was still almost wiped out due to human introduced diseases wiping out most of the rabbits in Spain.

France destroyed its wolf population completely, though they are back, having crossed from Italy about 20-30 years ago. Bears were similarly almost wiped out, except a tiny relict population in the Pyrenes. Unfortunately, this population has not done well and is essentially only there because of bear translocations from further east. Similarly, Lynx were eradicated by 1900 though this has been reversed by reintroduction projects. There are a couple of zones where lynx are found (a reintroduction project in Switzerland returned them to part of france), However, there is not going to be more than 130 lynx in the whole country and the population does not seem to be growing.

Italy retained a wolf population, though in the 1970s there was only 70-100 left. Nowadays, 1000-2000 wolves roam the country, and it is roaming members of this population that seeded the population in France. 80-90 bears remain in Italy (the Marsican bear), and while this is a more healthy population than that in France, it is still not enough to be secure. Lynx were eradicated but have been reintroduced, though they are not thought to have established a population that would be secure longterm without continued translocations.

Scandinavia could in some ways be thought of as a strong-point for all three animals in western-Europe, though there are still views that are not helpful. The encouraging thing here, is that the wolf is able to return from Russia. There are no more than 500 wolves in this area, and Norway has a relatively strange view of the wolf, with human hunting elk very popular, wolves are seen as a nuisance and kept at a minimum. Norway has a similar view of the bear, with them being far more common in Sweden. Lynx are widespread in this part of the world.

Why should we champion the return of these animals? They have the capacity to rebalance environments, as well as allowing forests to operate properly – in the UK, as we are missing these predators, replanting forests are often hindered by deer grazing them to much. There are other reasons though. These animals can be a big tourist draw, allowing people to make a good income, often in places where there is little other economic potential. In the UK, return of wolves and lynx would save hundreds of human lives each year by reducing deer collisions on our roads.

Will their recovery continue? I hope so, though it seems to very much be an area where progress is two steps forwards and one step back.

February 24, 2022July 1, 2022

Is the UK going to start being more ambitious in the animals it chooses to reintroduce?

The UK has plans to start reintroducing bison to the UK. While this is very exciting, these are large animals and when they are allowed to roam free they could hurt humans. This is highly unlikely for any one individual, but may occasionally cause significant injury when looked at as a whole.

European bison are large animals, far bigger than anything else currently found in the UK

Why do I bring this up? The main reason that wolves have not been reintroduced to the UK, is human fears. It is true that we would likely suffer low levels of predation of livestock, yet the main fear is of attacks on humans. While wolves can act aggressively towards humans on occasion, injury to the human is incredibly rare (the wolf will almost always run before the human gets close enough to be at risk).

Lynx is an even easier animal to suggest. There are no fatal attacks on humans as far as I’m aware, and as forest specialists they are even less likely to take sheep and wolves. What’s more, while a large links watching industry is likely to Spring up, these animals are incredibly hard to see. This means that without going to extreme lengths people are unlikely to encounter them and therefore be scared by them.

Beavers have been given the right to remain. Indeed genetically correct beavers (i.e. European beavers) are multiplying rapidly, and gradually spreading out from where they were first discovered on the River Otter in Devon, with the population thought to number at least 300-500. These animals are being reintroduced all over the place. The Tayside population in Scotland is thought number at least 1000 animals and these is spread across a large part of Scotland though they still have a long way to go. Beavers however, rarely threaten human life and while they can do some damage are easier to accept.

It’s thought that the UK population of boar number at least 4000, with between 1/3 and 1/2 of these living in the forest of Dean. A pair of boar can have as many as 30 offspring in one season- meaning that without regular culling the population could very rapidly explode. They are having very positive effects on woodlands in the areas that they exist, and my hope is that some of the animals could be moved rather than being shot. Boar unlike beavers can certainly be a threat to humans, though again will only hurt people when they feel threatened.

Other species like bears have had trials done, and likely would be far easier than lynx or wolves to live alongside. This is because as omnivores bears spend much of the year eating vegetation. It is true that some bears take to eating many sheep, but this is not common, and it is entirely possible to cull or move animals that take out this habit. Bears could also create vast tourism in areas that they live.

Animals such as pine martens should be given a helping hand. Locally extinct across much of the UK, they should be reintroduced to woodlands up and down the country. Apart from restoring a native mammal, the grey squirrel – an invasive animal which does much more financial damage each year than the pinemartin ever has, would be rapidly removed, this in turn could allow the red squirrel to start to repopulate the UK

I hope that by 2050 all these animals have thriving populations in the UK. If this was the case, then we would have rebalanced the natural world in the UK allowing it to thrive in a way that it hasn’t for centuries. Of course with precious little remaining wilderness we may find that we do not have space for anything more than a handful of some of these species. I believe even this would be of use.

January 25, 2022June 28, 2022

Bears should be given more respect as predators

It is often suggested that bears are merely opportunistic when it comes to meat eating. The suggestion is that bears are vegetarians who are capable of scavenging from dead animals.

Now, of course we need to be careful as bears have a wide range of intelligences. Brown bears have an intelligence on par with chimpanzees, where as black bears are far less bright (though they are still one of the brightest animals).

Elk in an open field Marie and Alistair Knock

January 11, 2022June 29, 2022

Bears and wolves are not good friends seen recently as bear steals a kill from wolves in Yellowstone

Most scavengers are relatively small. Animals like jackals are unable to make large kills. Furthermore, the amount left behind by lion and leopard is usually more than enough for a jackal to survive on.

In the northern hemisphere though, bears get a great deal of their calories from scavenging. They have an incredibly keen sense of smell, allowing them to find dead animals,

However unlike the jackal, they are very capable of hunting. They can be seen from time to time, mixing the two.

A bear runs along with a wolf pack, and then steal the price

Bears, particularly Grizzly bears, are very strong. In peak health, a large bear is more than capable of taking on a pack of wolves. They also require huge quantities of calories, and before going into hibernation, this will often push them to take bigger and bigger risks.

This is not hugely rare behaviour, but it is far rarer that it be filmed.

October 27, 2021June 30, 2022

Grizzly bears are rebounding in the USA, how can this success story continue?

Back in 1975, the American Grizzly bear was declared endangered. With only minor differences, the American Grizzly bear is the same species as the European bear, that lives from Western Spain, through Europe to the Kamchatka bear of far Eastern Russia.

In 1975 the USA lower 48 states grizzly bear population numbered somewhere between 136 animals and 312, so it was essential that it was protected. Nowerdays the same 48 states have a population of around 1500, but given that this number would have been as high as 50,000 when people started migrating to the USA in large number, this recovery is only just getting going.

August 20, 2021June 30, 2022

Should bears be returned to the wilds of the UK?

If you follow this blog regularly, you will have read yesterday and the day before on the reasoning for reintroducing Lynx and Wolves.

As I wrote, Lynx should be a simple choice. I believe that Wolves follow a similar logical route, that suggests that the reintroduction would either save or make far more money that any negatives might cost.

Brown bears are highly intelligent omnivores. They could thrive in the UK, and give much needed job opportunities in remote parts of the UK

Bears are also locally extinct in the UK, how does the arguments about reintroducing them go? Well, I would argue that actually the cost of bear reintroduction would be significantly lower.

June 16, 2021June 30, 2022

First recorded fatal bear attack in Slovenia in living memory

Bears are highly intelligent fascinating animals. However it must also be remembered, that they are highly efficient predators, and that they are more than capable of defending themselves.

Slovenian brown bear foraging with cubs CREDIT: MARCO SECCH

The Slovenian bear population has tripled in the last 20-years, and there are increasingly loud calls to legalise hunting. This will only make these calls more insistent.

May 24, 2021July 1, 2022

Whipsnade zoo shoots two Bears after they escape

Whipsnade zoo had three bears. A tree trunk blew over, allowing two of them to climb into the neighbouring enclosure that contained boar.

March 17, 2021March 23, 2021

The Cantabrian brown bear is returning, will it be allowed

Back around the 1900 there were around 1000 bears roaming the mountains of the Iberian peninsular. Unfortunately by 1950 this population had been reduced to two small populations consisting of 50-60 in one and perhaps as low as 14 individuals in the other.