Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles,

ultimate goal with captive breeding is to protect wild pandas,”

not only are there only eight remaining bear species, but six of the eight are now threatened with extinction. Only the American black bear is considered secure throughout its global range. At nine hundred thousand strong, black bears are more numerous than the seven other bear species combined.

Some are celebrated as icons of the natural world: the brown bear (Ursus arctos), the American black bear (Ursus americanus), the panda bear (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), and the polar bear (Ursus maritimus). The others are lesser known: the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), an