Bears are on every continent in the world that includes Antarctica! Well there is an exception... there are no bears to be had in Africa. But why!? Bears are extremely adaptable their herbivores so they can eat other critters or plants depending on their mood and availability. They can go into hibernation to span leaner times. They have an extremely keen sense of smell--possibly keener than bloodhounds but I haven't found any reliable evidence. Their varied diet, sense of smell and ability to hibernate makes them extremely adaptable so why none in Africa? Well, the only explanation I can think of is that Africa is a continent of specialist no place for our jack-of-all-trades bear. What do I mean specialist? Think about cheetahs extremely fast and cool as fuck. But they are a specialist they can run really really fast but they are small relatively and only good at catching small quick gazelle. I could go on about how so many of the creatures in Africa evolved to fill a niche but class starts soon. The problem this presents for our bear friend is that if creatures are evolving to fill niches it doesn't leave much real estate for a generalist to move in. Bears rule when their environment demands on-the-fly adaptation but when it takes a specialist to survive bears are not a safe bet.
I am very sad that they are not present in Africa... :(
My favorite part of this blog, other than the awesome picture you posted, is the line "Think about cheetahs extremely fast and cool as fuck."
ReplyDeleteMade me laugh out loud.
What bears make Antarctica home?
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure you are mistaken about that even though the idea of moving polar bears to Antarctica has been put forth to save their species destruction in the north polar region.
they are not herbivores they are omnivores
ReplyDeleteThere're no bears in Australia either.
ReplyDelete