Endangered Bears
The Uncertain Futures Of Endangered Bears
Endangered bears, unfortunately, flag the earth, holding tightly to whatever scant amount of habitat we have left for them. Even these small strongholds are squeezing in on the endangered bears of the world, and we seem to be way too slow at stopping it. The human way has been, to date, that we can and should have whatever we want, because we have nobody to answer too for our ambitions. But nature is banging at the door, begging us to reconsider, and asking us to rethink our objectives about living everywhere all at once. There are six species of endangered bears in the world, none of which are indigenes to North America. The brown bear, and his two North American subspecies, the grizzly and the Kodiak, have shown a vast stabilization and increase in numbers over the past ten years on this continent due to seriously diligent efforts by conservation and ecosystem experts. The North American black bear has never reached the cusp of being threatened, and continues to enjoy plentiful numbers throughout the United States.
Most of the world’s endangered bears are found in the subtropics, though much less frequently than they once were. Asia is another fine place for a bear to live, but we seem to have a hard time allowing him to do so. The panda bear is the world’s most endangered bear, as his food source is being wiped out in alarming numbers. China has begun to make enormous efforts toward reserving lands for this creature, reforesting the bamboo forests which have been lost, and a ban on logging, but the panda’s numbers continue to fall. As of November of 2007, the estimated number of wild pandas was 1600. Ecologists hope that with the positive efforts of the peoples of China, the panda population will begin to reflect to the positive side.
The Andean bear of Argentina, the sun bear, and the Asiatic black bear are also endangered bears who are losing their homes and statures to deforestation and a lack of respect for their lives. South America has been slow to follow suit of both China and North America as far as conservation and education are concerned. Without these bears on earth to do their invaluable work, the ecosystem will be forever set off course. The best advice given by the experts is that if we wait until they are all gone before we change our ways, the wild as we know it, and need it to be, will be gone forever. The sloth bear of India continues to be hunted for trophy, and this bodes increasing danger to the overall population. Finally, but certainly not least pressing, the polar bear is losing his battle for survival to an ever shrinking arctic tundra.