Black Bear: Ursus americanus

Endangered: Today a major threat to the Black bear is illegal poaching or killing, to supply the Asian markets with bear gallbladders and paws, considered to have medicinal value in China, Japan, and Korea.

Habitat: Black bears live in large forest with sunny openings, lowlands and wetlands, streams and woodland pools, and lots of climbing trees! They tend to wander a great distance, some male adults having lifetime ranges of 500-620 square miles.

Food: Black bears are omnivores, which means they will eat just about anything. They are fond of honey, plants, animals, berries, & nuts. They are also good fishermen and feed on spawning salmon.

Random Facts: Despite their names, black bears can actually appear in a variety of colors. There are brown black bears, white black bears, and even the blue glacial bear.
Black bears have large brain compared to their size and have a great long term memory.
Bears are also very good swimmers. One bear was recorded to swim 9 miles in the Gulf of Mexico! Unlike Grizzly bear mothers, Black bear mothers will seldom attack people in defence of her cubs. They typically bluff or retreat. Researchers who routinely capture cubs by chasing them up trees have not been attacked even when holding screaming cubs. The ferocity of mother Black bears is one of the biggest misconceptions about this species.

Brown Bear: Ursus arctos

Endangered: Threatened (at risk of becoming locally extinct) Oil and gas developments, recreational development, improper livestock grazing, poaching, excessive road access, and poorly designed timber harvest are all factors responsible.

Habitat: Brown bears prefer semi-open country, usually in mountainous areas. They will shift from one area to another in response to their seasonal food source abundance.

Food: Brown Bears are omnivores, which means, they like: roots, sprouts, fungi, fish, insects, and small mammals especially ground squirrels and salmon.
Random Facts: People are the biggest threat to Brown bears, from the continual increase of our populations and the resulting erosion of Brown bear habitat. Brown bears are relatively shy, and generally avoid contact with humans. However they can be aggressive and dangerous in certain situations.

   Polar Bear: Ursus maritimus "sea bear"

Endangered: Polar bears are potentially threatened, but not endangered, meaning that they could easily become endangered in the foreseeable future. They could become extinct due to sea ice changes and melting.

Habitat: Polar Bears are found in Alaska, Canada, Russia, Denmark (Greenland) and Norway. They are perfectly adapted to live in the harsh conditions of the arctic. They prefer to live on the sea ice all year round. When the edge of the ice moves in the summer, bears will travel many miles to stay on the ice and be near the seals.

Food: Polar Bears eat seals (ringed seals, bearded seals), walrus, beluga whales, reindeer, birds, bird's eggs, kelp, and beached whales.

Random Facts: Polar Bears are so well protected from the cold that they often have more of a problem becoming overheated than cold. Even in the very cold, they often over-heat when they try to run.
They also have small bumps on the pads of their feet called papillae, which prevent them from slipping on the ice.