Sun bear

The sun bear (Ursus malayanus or Helarctos malayanus) is a bear living in Southeast Asia.

Sun Bear
Sun bear
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Ursidae
Genus:	Helarctos Horsfield 1825
Species:	H. malayanus
Binomial name
Helarctos malayanus (Raffles, 1821)

Appearance

The sun bear is the smallest bear. It has short black fur, and a yellow spot on its chest. Its ears are small and round. It has big feet with naked soles and long claws, which help the sun bear climbing. It can climb very well. It cannot see very well, but its sense of smell is very good.

Life

Jaws of sun bear

Sun bears mostly live in tropic rainforests. They are mostly active at night, and they stay in trees a lot of the time.

It eats a lot of different things: fruit and other plants, eggs, honey and insects. They also eat small vertebrate animals, like reptiles, birds and mammals.

After a pregnancy of 96 days the female gives birth to 1-2 babies. Young sun bears become mature when they are 3-4 years old. sun bears can become up to 28 years old when in captivity (held by humans, e.g. in zoos).

Sun bears do not hibernate.

Sun Bear Media

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  Lossy-page1-2518px-Ursus maritimus - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - Special Collections University of Amsterdam - (white background)

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  Ursus arctos - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - Special Collections University of Amsterdam - (white background)

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  Ursus americanus - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - Special Collections University of Amsterdam - (white background)

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  Ursus thibetanus - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - Special Collections University of Amsterdam -(white background)

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  Ursus malayanus - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - Special Collections University of Amsterdam - (white background)

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  Tremarctos ornatus 1824 (flipped)

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  Spectacled bear

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  Recherches pour servir à l'histoire naturelle des mammifères (Pl. 50) (white background)

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  Skull, showing short snout

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  Sun bears are among the most arboreal of bears.

• Helarctos_malayanus,_Surabaya_Zoo,_Indonesia

Other websites

• Sun bear by BearPlanet