Bearpardy 🐻

Name That Bear

100

This is the largest species of bear

Polar Bear 🐻‍❄️

200

This type of bear is unique for having "thumbs" 

Panda bear 🐼

Fun fact! These “thumbs” are actually just enlarged wrist bones that help pandas grasp bamboo!

Additional fun fact: pandas were not initially born to eat bamboo. As a result of food scarcity, they evolved to eat bamboo (hence, the “thumb”), and have decrease energy as a result

300

Name the real bear! This bear is the only real bear of the three listed - the other two are misnomers -- the red panda, the koala bear, the sloth bear

the sloth bear 

Koalas are considered “marsupials” and red pandas are in their own unique category called “ailuridae”

400

DAILY DOUBLE

this type of bear has the longest claws and longest tongue of any species (but it the smallest living bear species overall!)

the sun bear 

fun fact: sun bears weight between 25 and 65 pounds and have sticky tongues up to 10 inches to eat honey and insects 

500

This South American bear, called the Andean Bear, is also know as the _______________ bear due it’s face pattern that resembles glasses! 

the spectacled bear

Fun Fact: We know very little about the Andean Bear (native to the Andes)! This is because they’re very reclusive, which limits our research on these shy little guys!

Bear-ology

100

bear are _________, meaning they eat plants and animals 

omnivores 🐟🌴

diets can vary from species to species but bears' diets consist of a range of foods such as grasses, leaves, fungi, roots, berries, seeds, insects and small mammals, fish (salmon!), etc. 

200

how many species of bears are there? 

8

giant panda bear, brown bear (grizzly and kodiak), american black bear, polar bear, sloth bear, sun bear, asiatic black bear (also called moon bear), andean bear 

300

Despite popular belief, bears are not true hibernators. Instead, bears enter torpor, in which their heartrate slows, body temperature decreases, and their slumber isn't regulated by seasonal or hormonal changes. How many months do the longest torpors last?

7-8 months

400

a group of bears is called this

a "sleuth" or "sloth" 🐻🐻🐻

500

When you see a brown bear in the wild, you should ______________, but when you see a black bear, you should _____________

Brown bears: make yourself small and non-threatening or play dead

This is because grizzly bears are territorial creatures and will fight a perceived threat

Black bears: make yourself big, speak in a loud voice

This is because black bears are naturally curious and jumpy, and will be scared away easily

Rhyme:

• If it’s black, fight back (black bear)
• If it’s brown, lay down (grizzly)
• If it’s white, goodnight (polar bear)

Bear Cubs

100

at what age is a bear considered an adult?

5-6 

Biologists classify bears as adults once they are 5-6 years old. Like many other organisms, adulthood is defined by reaching sexual maturity and generally occurs around the bear’s sixth year.

200

How big are cubs when they’re born? (smaller than you think)

average about 1 pound at birth

Bears are small, without fur, and blind when they’re born. They average about 1 pound and depend entirely on their mother for nourishment. They grow very quickly after they are born due to their mom’s nutrient-rich milk.

300

how long do cubs stay with their mother? (hint: think about Katmai's Fat Bear Week bios and when bears are considered independent)

2.5 years

Cubs will generally stay with their mother for 2.5 years. During their first year of life, they are called spring cubs, the second year they are called yearlings. The bears in Katmai typically separate from their moms in May or June of their third summer.

400

what sounds do bear cubs use to communicate with their mother?

screams when distressed, grunts and chirps to get mom's attention, cooing or whining when they want to nurse, humming/purring while nursing or feeling safe and happy 

500

what percentage of a brown bear's milk is fat? (will accept within 5%) 

20-25%

bear milk is especially rich and has one of the highest fat contents of any land mammal. this is what helps the cubs grow so quickly! 

Bears in Media

100

What fictional British bear first appeared in 1958 in a children’s book?

Paddington bear

Paddington first appeared on October 13, 1958, in a book called A Bear Called Paddington. Since then, he has been adapted for films, tv, and commercials.

200

this is where Winnie the Pooh lives

hundred acre wood

Though the hundred acre wood is a fictional forest, it is inspired by the real-life Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England

300

this president inspired the first stuffed teddy bear 

theodore "teddy" roosevelt 

400

This children’s book series was created in 1962 and eventually was the subject of a Mandela Effect controversy

The Berenstain Bears 

500

in which decade was the Smokey Bear cartoon created?

the 1940s 

Smokey was created in 1944 by the United States Forest Services to educate the public on wildfire prevention

Bear Preservation

100

this is the name of the national park in Alaska that hosts Fat Bear Week 

Katmai National Park

Katmai was establish in 1918 to protect the volcanically devastated region surrounding it! Today, Katmai National Park and Preserve protects 9,000 years of human history and serves as an extremely important habitat for salmon and thousands of brown bears

200

of all of the bear species, how many are considered vulnerable or endangered? 

6 of the 8 species 

giant pandas are considered endangered

polar bears, sun bears, asiatic black bears, sloth bears, and andean bears are considered vulnerable

brown bears and american black bears are of the least concern 

300

this state hunted grizzly bears to extinction (hint: they still have a bear on their state flag)

california

400

Name 3 of the ways you can protect bears in your area

• Do not feed them
• Keep garbage out of reach
• Protect your garden
• Store pet food properly
• Use bird feeders wisely
• Clean and store barbecue grills
• Never approach a bear
• Contact your local national park or state department of wildlife for support

Bears are quick learners and when people feed them (intentionally or not), they begin to associate humans with food, which then can pose a safety threat and cause them to be killed or relocated from their habitat

500

Name 3 of the major concerns of polar bear conservation, aside from climate change (which is the most prominent threat to polar bears right now)

• Commercial activity (oil and gas exploration, shipping, mining)
• Intraspecies conflict and encounters
• Pollution
• Disease
• Overharvesting/ overhunting  
• Unregulated/ poorly regulated tourism

All of these concerns relate back to climate change and climate warming, as the sea ice melts, many problems arise for the polar bear populations due to their space/ habitat decreasing. Climate warming also relates to an increase of disease as more humans and other species migrate towards polar bear habitats and potentially introduce more diseases