Post by Admin on Sept 19, 2013 11:05:38 GMT
The Bear Almanac - Second Edition:
Sun Bear - The world's smallest bear, the "Malay bear," occurs in a tropical climate, its population spanning the equator. One of the rarest tropical forest animals, it is also the most lightly built bear ( one hundred pounds is considered big ). Though small, a sun bear has a "chip on its shoulder," manifested in a very bad attitude, and it is known to attack humans.
Black to dark brown in color, it has a whitish to pale orange-yellow horseshoe-shaped chest marking that is thought to resemble the sun; hence the name. Its fur is short, the hair unusually thick for a tropical climate, and there is no hair on the soles of the paws. The head is short, wide, and flat, with small eyes; a highly flexible snout; and an extremely long, slender tongue. The muscular body is short, bowed legs ( the front legs are quite powerful ); large inwardly set feet ( making the bear bandy-legged ); and long, sickle-shaped claws. The sun bear doe s not hibernate; its gestation period is not prolonged, and there is no delayed implantation.
Referred to in Malaysia as Beruang Madu ( honey bear ), this solitary, small, strange and fascinating animal is the least well known of all bears. Sun bear research has long been a low priority on the Malay Peninsula and other areas inhabited by the sun bear.
Sun Bear - The world's smallest bear, the "Malay bear," occurs in a tropical climate, its population spanning the equator. One of the rarest tropical forest animals, it is also the most lightly built bear ( one hundred pounds is considered big ). Though small, a sun bear has a "chip on its shoulder," manifested in a very bad attitude, and it is known to attack humans.
Black to dark brown in color, it has a whitish to pale orange-yellow horseshoe-shaped chest marking that is thought to resemble the sun; hence the name. Its fur is short, the hair unusually thick for a tropical climate, and there is no hair on the soles of the paws. The head is short, wide, and flat, with small eyes; a highly flexible snout; and an extremely long, slender tongue. The muscular body is short, bowed legs ( the front legs are quite powerful ); large inwardly set feet ( making the bear bandy-legged ); and long, sickle-shaped claws. The sun bear doe s not hibernate; its gestation period is not prolonged, and there is no delayed implantation.
Referred to in Malaysia as Beruang Madu ( honey bear ), this solitary, small, strange and fascinating animal is the least well known of all bears. Sun bear research has long been a low priority on the Malay Peninsula and other areas inhabited by the sun bear.