Bears surviving in Australia.

[malikc6]

Similar to my old thread "Bears surviving in Africa", how do you think that brown/black bear species would do in Australia? In this scenario, humans are not a factor (no poaching or hunting or any interference). How would the environment change due to their presence? 

[OldGreenGrolar]

Assuming there are no hunters or poachers in Australia, I will say the brown and black bears will end up becoming the most powerful animals on the continent. The only animal that could kill a black bear would be a huge wild stallion but that is about it. Kangaroos and flightless birds will be included in the menu but most times will be too fast to escape. Both bears, however, will rob dingos and marsupial lions of their kills.

[malikc6]

Sept 17, 2020 20:41:48 GMT -5 OldGreenGrolar said:

Assuming there are no hunters or poachers in Australia, I will say the brown and black bears will end up becoming the most powerful animals on the continent. The only animal that could kill a black bear would be a huge wild stallion but that is about it. Kangaroos and flightless birds will be included in the menu but most times will be too fast to escape. Both bears, however, will rob dingos and marsupial lions of their kills.

Would you consider the bears to be an invasive species in this scenario? Or do you think that the animals would eventually adapt to them?

[OldGreenGrolar]

Honestly, I think the red fox, feral cats, and the dingo has displaced quite a number of Australian animals. However, the bears are not pure predators but omnivorous and non territorial so they would probably not wipe out the animals in Australia. However, the bear wouldn’t mind robbing the Australian predators of their kills.

Therefore, while I think the bears could be an invasive species as they are not native to Australia, the animals could to adapt to their presence.

[brobear]

I know very little about the climate and vegetation of the outback. There is no doubts that a bear would on occasion displace a pack of dingos from their kill. My proposal would be Gobi bears. These smallish mostly-blonde brown bears can be quite aggressive. Am I wrong that ( from a poor memory ) there are razor-back hogs in the outback? If so, these might become a favorite prey choice.

[OldGreenGrolar]

I almost forgot these wild pigs. Some brown bears love preying on them.

[malikc6]

Sept 17, 2020 21:45:15 GMT -5 brobear said:

I know very little about the climate and vegetation of the outback. There is no doubts that a bear would on occasion displace a pack of dingos from their kill. My proposal would be Gobi bears. These smallish mostly-blonde brown bears can be quite aggressive. Am I wrong that ( from a poor memory ) there are razor-back hogs in the outback? If so, these might become a favorite prey choice.

Not many of those bears left sadly. Probably a better option than their heavyweight counterparts that would be close to invincible in Australia. 

[brobear]

Sept 17, 2020 22:04:27 GMT -5 malikc6 said:

Sept 17, 2020 21:45:15 GMT -5 brobear said:

I know very little about the climate and vegetation of the outback. There is no doubts that a bear would on occasion displace a pack of dingos from their kill. My proposal would be Gobi bears. These smallish mostly-blonde brown bears can be quite aggressive. Am I wrong that ( from a poor memory ) there are razor-back hogs in the outback? If so, these might become a favorite prey choice.

Not many of those bears left sadly. Probably a better option than their heavyweight counterparts that would be close to invincible in Australia. 

The fact that Gobi bears are not so numerous is just another reason why he would be a good choice. But my real reason for choosing him is his ability to withstand extreme temperatures and to live in a dry environment. From Wiki: Other domestic species have escaped and over time have produced wild populations including the banteng, cat, fallow deer, red deer, sambar deer, rusa deer, chital, hog deer, horse, donkey, pig, goat, water buffalo, and the camel.

[OldGreenGrolar]

Personally I think the gobi bears will do just fine in central Australia where the desert is located.

[Montezuma]

Here is my though about Australian brown bear. I was thinking of a Sun bear but i selected a Brown bear.

Introduction

Australian brown bear (Ursus arctos Afstralious) is a subspecies of brown bear living in hot and humid areas of Australian continent. Its last scientific name word is derived from the Greek word Afstralía which means Australia in English. Unlike most brown bears, it is lightly coloured in order to bear the relasping heats of the desert region.




Australian bears are the only bears surviving in Australia with their cloest neighbouring sun bears in the upper part of South East Asia. These bears are supposed to be a descendant of the Himalayan brown bears who travelled and later isolated to this land about 100,000 or 80,000 years ago in search of better enviornment and food supplies.

Just like other bears, these bears are highly adoptive and survive a large area of the heatful desert. Although these bears also visit the shores in hope of catching a marine animal, yet they mostly spend their most time in dense forest and caves. A.bears tend to occur more at those where food is abundant and thats why they sometimes invade villages and crops too.

Physical features

The bears of this continent are medium-size and can become large under good conditions. Adult male generally weight 190-280kg at average with the largest of them scaling nearly 400 kg. Height measures about 3.5ft on four limbs and the average on hind legs is about 6.7ft with some reaching 7.5ft. Females are smaller with average weights ranging from 125-180kg and measuring 5.10ft at average length.

[Montezuma]

The bears have a very light coloured fur, in order to reflect hot sunlight of the hot continent. Its fur colour ranges from light brown to silver. The claws measure from 4 to 5 inch and are very strong since they had to digg into tough lands.

The tail is about 4-6 inches in length and the ears are propotionally larger to exhale heat outside of the body. The fat layer is thin when compared to most brown bears.

Behaviour and Ecology

These brown bears do not hibernate. They use dens, not to hibernation, but to rest in the day (since in dens tgh temperature to bit lower than outside). They spend all day till evening in their dens to avoid the heat.

The cub reproduction is averagely 2-3 but nearly five cubs born isn't impossible. In mating season, male bears vicioisly compete for females where injuries often occur. The bears of this continent are very aggressive when compared to himalayan brown bears. They have been know records of these bears killing or injuring each other.

In sunmer, Australian brown bears mostly spend their day in dens and come out in evening for activities. In winter, they tend to venture outside of their dens nearly all the day and night except the Afternoon. In Spring or autumn, the pattern is much like that of summer. It is mostly common in desert like areas but in forest or near lake areas, the activity pattern differs alot since the cool waters or the shadowy forest lower the surronding tempurature enabling the bear to walk around easily. In such areas, bears spend their time cooling in water, rolling, eating, sleeping or walking while cubs play fatiguelessly.

The diet depends on the areas. Near water bodies like shores, bears (like in Alaska) prefer to eat marine animals like fish. On shores, bears come mostly on summer. They would even attack and eat turtles and eggs, wander crabs and non-venomous reptiles. In desert areas, finding food is a bit tough. Here bears try to burrow the land in order to look for various organism to consume. In forest areas, bears are become more herbivorous as they mostly choose to eat cool things like fruits in a heatful area.

They mostly do not hunt but they can attack and kill animals from wombat to kangroo or cattle. Cannibalism is rare but occurs.



Although most of these would be subadults or weak individuals yet healthy adult are not always escapable. The bear's killing technique is to grip the and break the neck or spinal cord. However, the most common way to gain meat for bears is Kleptoparasitism. Just like other bears who generally chase off other predarors from their kills like big felines, canid packs or small mustelids; Australian brown bears practise this too. Using their bigger size and more strength as a tool of intimidation, they regularly chase off packs of dingos, Tasmanian devils, Thycalines or Tasmanian wolf (now extinct but when it occured) and other predators too. They are even known to attack and even usurp prey from Australian white alligator.



Naturally, an adult male Australian Brown Bear has no natural enemy except another bear. Just like all other bears, they are the Apex predators are play a large role in regulating the habiats ecology. Except from man or another bear, the only natural threat to it is the Dingo (as Grizzly bear and Wolves) since packs of dingoes are known to attack, kill or even eat subadult bears and cubs, however adult bears are immune from it are generally dominant as even the largest of the packs avoid a healthy adult bear. Just like Dingos, other apex predators like Tasmanian devils or Thycaline avoid bears but attacks on cubs are known.