The Endangered Bears

It is probably safe to say that most people in the world have never seen a bear outside of a zoo. While this is partly because wild animals tend to stay away from human populations if at all possible, it is also partly because 6 of the world's 8 bear species are threatened with extinction. The two species which are not threatened are the Brown Bear and the American Black Bear, due mostly to conservation efforts. These bear species however, face their own problems when in the wild.

One of the main reasons behind declining bear populations is human activities. In Asia and South America timber logging destroys acres of bear habitat daily. With the loss of habitat area comes food scarcity. Another way that habitat is lost is the encroachment of human settlements and development, which is happening to the brown and black bears as well. In New Jersey some communities are experiencing more and more bears entering neighborhoods. The bears experience food shortages and are lured into human settlements by the smell of outside trashcans and even domestic pets. On some occasions bears have even entered homes in forest areas searching for food, but usually encounter the owners. With increased bear encounters comes increased bear attacks, which

causes human populations to find ways to prevent them which usually includes destroying the animal. Bears in Asia and South America are also faced with poaching and over hunting. The sloth bear is killed for various body parts in India.

These bears are declining because and only because of human activities. But when the bears go about doing what they would normally do, humans see this as a nuisance and seek to remove or destroy the animals. This is not a solution to this 'problem'. People see the animals as a nuisance, but the animals were here first, before development began to sprawl out of the cities. We need to find a way to live with other species in our environment. We need to recognize their importance and that if we continue with development as we currently are they may be gone forever.