BEAR, Ursus, a genus of quadrupeds, the type of a family called belong ing to the order feriv, sub-order carnivora, and tribe plantigrada. In the ursida or B. family,.are included not only the true bears, but also badgers, gluttons, and wolverines, racoons, coatimondis, binturongs, the kinkajou, the panda, etc. (See these articles.) Walking on the whole sole of the foot (plantigrade), the animals of this family arc not, in general, capable of running very swiftly; and the nearly equal length of their fore and hind legs unfits them for leaping; most of them are also heavy both in form and gait. But whilst thus deficient in the powers which other carnivorous animals pos• sess for obtaining prey, they really exhibit the same beautiful mutual adaptation of endowments and wants; they are, in fact, by no means strictly carnivorous; no animals are more thoroughly omnivorous than some of them; whilst others, even of the true bears, always give a decided preference to vegetable food when it can be obtained, and their teeth and digestive organs are in exact accordance with such tastes. Their jaws are much more elongated than those of feline animals, and their bite proportionally lees powerful, although some of the bears are still very formidable from their great general strength and the size of their canine teeth. Their claws are not retractile, and are adapted for digging in the earth, or for climbing trees, rather than for seizing prey. All animals of the family have five toes to each both of the fore and hind feet.
Bears have six cutting teeth above, and six below, one canine tooth on each side in each jaw, with four false molars and two molars (or grinders) on each side above, and four false molars and three molars below. The false molars are, in general, soon lost by the more carnivorous species. The true molars are very large and tuberculous, the false molars comparatively small. The tuberculous crowns of the molars exhibit the adapta tion to vegetable food.—The tail in all species of B. is very short, so that some of them almost appear tailless. Most of them may be described as nocturnal in their habits.
Bears are found in Europe, Asia, and North and South America, and both in warm and cold climates, the species belonging to cold climates being in general the most fierce and carnivorous. The ancients mention them as occurring in Africa; it must, therefore, be regarded as a curious circumstance that no recent accounts make certain the existence of any species in that continent. Nor is any known to belong to Australia.
The common 13. of Europe, or brown B. (Ursus Antos), was at one time a native of the British islands. Bears were carried from Britain to Rome, for the cruel sports in which the Romans delighted, and they certainly were not exterminated in Scotland before the latter part of the 11th century. The brown B. is usually about four ft. long, and two and a half ft. high. Its claws are about two in. long, and much curved. It has a convex forehead, and generally a brown fur, which is somewhat woolly in the younger animals, but becomes smoother with age. It produces from one to three young ones at a birth, which remain blind for about four weeks. It i5 generally believed to be the only European species, although different varieties occur; and one, the black B., has been regarded by some naturalists as specifically distinct. The common 13. is very widely distributed over the whole of Europe and of the n. of Asia, Japan, and North America. In America it is known as the Barren Ground Bear. It is a solitary animal, and generally inhabits mountainous regions or thick forests It sometimes preys on lambs, kids, etc. ; is fond of fish, which in some countries, as in Kamtchatka, constitute a great part of its food; climbs trees in quest of honey, eats also fruits and vegetables, and in confinement, exhibits a strong appetite for bread. It usually prefers vegetable to animal food. The skin is valued for making fur-cloaks, etc.; the flesh is used as food, often in the shape of hams, as is that of the American Black B. ; the paws are esteemed a delicacy. The fat (bear's grease) is in great request as an unguent for the hair. The intestines are used in Kamtehatka, instead of glass, for windows. To the people of Kamtchatka, indeed, bears, which are there very abundant, afford many of the necessaries and comforts of life.—The common B., like others of the genus, in cold 'climates, usually spends the winter in a torpid state. It selects a cavern or the hollow of a tree for its hybernation, or makes a hole for itself by digging; it is also said, but this needs confirmation, some times to construct a sort of hut with branches of trees, lined with moss. The winter being spent without food, it is said to be very lean on the return of spring. This and other species of B. are very often killed in their winter dens.