Bear Facts 8

 Bear weight usually fluctuates throughout the year.

This especially occurs for bears in temperate and arctic climates. To endure harsh winters, bears need to store up fat. Even when hibernating, their bodies need nutrition, stored in the form of fat.

As winter approaches in autumn, bears build up fat, causing their body weight to increase. By the time winter ends, the fat gets exhausted, causing the bears’ body weight to drop in spring and summer. However, bears in tropical climates don’t experience this.

Bears are usually slow.

On average, bears walk 1 meter per second, in contrast to the human average of 1.4 meters per second. However, bears can achieve short bursts of speeds up to 40 km per hour.

Though this is still slower than a human’s average running speed of 45 km per hour, bears can reach maximum speed faster. Besides, if the film the Revenant taught us anything, it’s to steer clear of bears and their young.

A bear’s forearms are very versatile.

Bears use their stocky forearms to catch prey, dig their dens, and climb trees. They’re also flexible enough to hold fruit and pick leaves from trees.

Bears have 2 coats of hair making up their fur.

A bear’s first coat of hair has long strands that protect their skin. The second coat of hair is shorter, packed into dense layers to keep the animal warm in cold environments.

Bears have average sight and hearing.

Unlike other predatory mammals, bears can see color, which helps them find edible fruits and leaves. However, they only have an average range of sight and hearing.

Bears don’t have whiskers.

Some animals like cats and dogs use their whiskers as added sense organs. However, bears don’t have whiskers.

Bears have a heightened sense of smell.

A bear’s sense of smell is usually greater than dogs and other predators. In addition to locating prey and other sources of food, bears use their sense of smell to find other bears. They also use it to signal each other, usually either to warn rivals that they’re entering their territory or to find a mate.