Marvin Levy, age 8, of Brooklyn, N.Y., for his question:
HOW MANY KINDS OF BEARS ARE THERE?
A male bear is called a boar or a he bear while a female is called a sow or she bear. The gestation period for a bear depends on the species but it runs from seven to nine months. Usually two babies are born at a time but sometimes the number can be one, three or four. Bears usually live alone and never gather in packs. They live between 15 and 30 years.
Bears are among the favorite animals found in zoos and circuses. The large, powerful animals look friendly and playful but all of them are dangerous when they are in the wilds.
There are seven different species of bears in the world. They include the big brown bears, American black bears, Asiatic black bears, polar bears, sun bears, sloth bears and spectacled bears.
Big brown bears are among the largest bears in the world. Included in this grouping are the Alaskan brown bears, the Kodiak bears and the famous grizzly bears of western North America. Alaskan brown bears grow to be nine feet long while grizzlies can be eight feet long.
Grizzlies are rarely seen now except in Alaska and the mountains of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming because most have been killed off. But at one time they were plentiful from the Black Hills of South Dakota westward and from Mexico to northern Alaska.
Today there are about 200 grizzlies living in Yellowstone National Park.
American black bears are among the most common species today while the Asiatic black bears are fiercer than most other kinds.
Polar bears are the best swimmers of all bears and can travel three to six miles per hour in the water. They are fast on land, too, and can run about 25 miles an hour.
Smallest of all bears is the sun bear. He only grows to be about three feet long.
Sloth bears get their name from an old English word meaning slow. They are very fond of honey and are often called honey bears. Mostly they live in India and Sri Lanka.
Spectacled bears are the only species of bear that lives in South America. He gets his name from half circles of white fur around his eyes. The circles look very much like spectacles. He lives in the cool mountain forests of Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
Most bears live north of the equator, with only the spectacled bear living south of it. Bears are found in Asia, Europe, North America and in the Arctic near the North Pole. No wild bears live in Africa, Antarctica or Australia.
Most bears look bigger than they actually are. Long, thick fur and loose skin give them a very full and shaggy look.