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Post by brobear on Mar 8, 2018 6:35:04 GMT -5
Which bear species or sub-species is the most aggressive? Which one has the shortest fuse?
This is not a face-off topic but simply about aggression.
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Post by brobear on Mar 8, 2018 6:35:30 GMT -5
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Post by brobear on Mar 8, 2018 6:37:46 GMT -5
churchillpolarbears.org/tag/grizzly-bear/ The sighting comes just weeks after researchers in Wapusk National Park, known for its polar bear denning area, circulated photographs of grizzly and black bears roaming the tundra. The park is 100 kilometers southeast of Churchill. The researchers believe the bear spotted in Churchill and brown bears out in the park are barren ground grizzlies. These grizzly bears are a little smaller then Rocky Mountain grizzlies. They are also considered more aggressive. Omnivorous in their feeding habits these bears hunt caribou, ground squirrels, eat berries and scavenge carrion.
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Post by brobear on Mar 8, 2018 6:48:41 GMT -5
shaggygod.proboards.com/thread/537/arctic-northernmost-grizzly-bears-america by Grrraaahhh "That grizzly is more aggressive than the coastal brown bear," says Will Troyer, who began live-trapping bears in Alaska in the 1950s. "When I first went up there, you never saw anybody in that country except for the Eskimos. Now the climate is getting warmer, and there's more human activity." Not Your Average Griz Although genetically identical to the eight-foot, 900-pound coastal brown bears of southern Alaska, the barren ground grizzly rarely tops six feet and 500 pounds. A scarcity of food in northern Alaska makes these grizzlies smaller, and they behave very differently from coastal brown bears. Well-fed brown bears sleep a lot and shamble around a ten-square-mile territory. In contrast, hungry barren ground grizzlies can prowl 5,000-square-mile territories, constantly sniffing the air for scent. In the Arctic—where there are no streams filled with fat salmon, no forests to provide shade or cover, and food gathering is cut short by the long winters—the omnivorous barren ground's mission is simple: relentlessly hunt down and consume every available scrap of food.
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Post by brobear on Mar 8, 2018 6:54:56 GMT -5
www.infohub.com/outfitting_service/189.html Grizzly bears are the target at Bathurst Inlet, Nunavut. These are barren ground grizzlies and their numbers are also on the rise and enables this unique opportunity to be had by a select few hunters. The barren ground grizzly is well known for it’s ferocity. It fears no animal – man included – in it’s tundra domain. The size of these grizzlies resembles that of the mountain grizzly. Exceptional specimens may reach eight feet.
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Post by brobear on Mar 8, 2018 7:22:51 GMT -5
As can be read on the Grizzly topic "Predator or Scavenger" the barren ground grizzly which normally weighs within the 300 pound range will take on a bull musk ox weighing anywhere from 600 to 800 pounds. This grizzly that Lewis and Clark and other early pioneers met in the Old West of North America had this barren-ground grizzly attitude which comes with living in a huge expanse of land with few human contacts.
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Post by brobear on Mar 8, 2018 7:26:18 GMT -5
factsanddetails.com/asian/cat68/sub433/entry-3574.html Sloth bears are known for their pugnacity and aggressiveness They can do some serious damage with their long claws. They sometimes bite with their semi-toothed muzzle and hold on like a pit bull. Females are generally accommodating to other females. Fights sometimes break out between males. Sloth bears have been observed fighting with tigers and holding their own. One ranger told Smithsonian magazine he observed a sloth bear slap a tiger in the face and push it away. The tiger fled after that. The same ranger said the once saw a sloth bear take on three large tigers, each of which fled in a different direction after the encounter. However, tigers do kill sloth bears more often than visa versa. In most cases a tiger can kill a sloth bear of it wants to but is fearful if suffering severe wounds in the process.
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Post by brobear on Mar 8, 2018 7:36:31 GMT -5
blog.nature.org/science/2013/04/01/expedition-to-northern-tibet-part-1-the-land-of-charging-blue-bears/ The Land of Charging Blue Bears The ice that just cracked under my foot was like a window breaking. The bear sleeping on the bank of the river exploded with a roar. Within a few seconds it was covering the frozen ground towards us at break-neck speed. My friend Hamish and I raised our airhorns above our heads and squeezed. The bear kept coming. Then just as the horns started to wheeze their last exhale of compressed air, the bear registered the sound and pulled up. Standing less than 80 feet from us was one of the rarest bears on the planet, the Tibetan blue bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus). We didn’t speak, there wasn’t anything to say. We both knew that our air horns were exhausted and that in retrospect we should have had a plan to let off one then the other. The bear stared at us with lips curled back. We stood frozen holding our bikes. It wasn’t more than a few seconds – time enough to process the gravity of the situation – before the bear turned and retreated. Twenty feet at first, then all the way to the bank, then half way up the sand dune, at each point turning to observe and perhaps reevaluate its decision to retreat, then finally over the top of the dune and out of sight. This was the first bear we had seen on the expedition. With trembling hands we tore into Hamish’s bike trailer to retrieve the bike pump attachment required to recharge our air horns. Tibetan blue bears, a subspecies of brown bear, are spectacular. With a luxurious blue-grey coat, big white collar, black legs and black teddy-bear ears, they can look almost like a cross between a grizzly and a panda. Seeing them up close (too close you might say), it surprised me that so few people know about them. The reason why very few people know of or see this bear is because it lives in one of the world’s most inhospitable places. It is mid-autumn and the temperature is -22 Fahrenheit, and that’s not considering the ferocious wind scouring the almost vegetation-free plain around us. The altitude hasn’t dropped below 16,400 feet (5000m) for over a week of travel and progress is only possible when we’re not sheltering from storms that carry a biting mix of snow and sand. It is a place captivating in its hostility. A land where giant sand dunes rest against towering glaciated peaks. A land of impassable mud in summer and punishing cold in winter. Of wild animals living on the roof of the world. We are on the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau where the provinces of Qinghai and Xinjiang join the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR); a place too inhospitable for even the hardy Tibetan nomads to use. This is not the Tibet of documentaries. It is a landscape very few people know about, hidden in the centre of a continent. The northern part of the Tibetan Plateau is home to three giant nature preserves. The Qiangtang in the TAR, Aerjinshan in Xingjiang, and Kekexili in Qinghai. Other than the Greenland icesheet, this cluster of parks forms the biggest contiguous terrestrial protected area on the planet. A roadless wilderness bigger than Montana. Heavy travel restrictions, impassable mountain ranges, altitude, and ferocious conditions have made it one of the least visited places on the planet. For three weeks our only company would be aggressive bears, inquisitive wolves, defensive yaks, and some of the most testing conditions on our planet. In coming blogs I’ll share some of our experiences and encounters of life on the northern plateau.
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Post by brobear on Mar 8, 2018 7:38:04 GMT -5
Which bear is most aggressive - barren ground grizzly - sloth bear - Tibetan blue bear?
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Post by tom on Mar 8, 2018 12:40:40 GMT -5
I don't know that I'm qualified to really answer that question as I simply don't know enough about the Sloth or the blue bear. I have seen the vid showing a Sloth bear chasing off a Tiger but that is not really enough for me to make a selection. The Blue Bear I didn't know existed until you mentioned it. They may all be aggressive as it would seem. BBear does the Blue Bear inhabit the Himalaya's? If he does maybe he shares his home region with the Yeti.....
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Post by brobear on Mar 8, 2018 15:31:23 GMT -5
What does the barren ground grizzly and the blue bear have in common? They are both grizzlies that live in very remote locations and blunder into few people. They both have other predators to deal with; mainly wolves. The sloth bear ( my opinion ) simply adapted the "stay grounded and fight plan" rather than the "climb up a tree plan" as black bears and sun bears do. To start with, a leopard can climb nearly as good as a bear. And the sloth bear would have to climb very high very fast to escape a hungry tiger, which can leap seemingly impossible heights for so ponderous a big cat. The sloth bear always - always attacks the face of his opponent. That is the key to his success. A tiger does not relish risking being blinded. Otherwise, they would be eating a lot more sloth bears.
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Post by brobear on Mar 8, 2018 15:33:25 GMT -5
The Yeti ( Abominable Snowman )... probably the Tibetan blue bear's favorite prey; which explains their rarity - ( don't dwell on it. Just believe ).
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Post by brobear on Mar 10, 2018 7:57:35 GMT -5
animaldiversity.org/accounts/Melursus_ursinus/ Behavior Sloth bears are mainly nocturnal. Their sense of smell is well developed but their sight and hearing are poor. These bears are generally not aggressive, but their poor eyesight and hearing allows humans to draw near, and when feeling threatened these bears will defend themselves. Surprisingly, these bears are described as shy. For example, they live in the tropics but have long, dark, shaggy coats suggesting they are susceptible to cold stress. They are excellent climbers, but do not climb trees to escape danger. During the day they sleep in caves, especially caves by river banks. Not much is known about their social systems but evidence suggests they are solitary except for mothers with cubs. They do not hibernate, but do have a period of inactivity during the rainy season (Sanderson, 1972; Ward and Kynaston, 1995; IBA, 1999; Blomstrom, 2000).
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Post by brobear on Mar 10, 2018 8:07:10 GMT -5
factsanddetails.com/asian/cat68/sub433/entry-3574.html Sloth bears are known for their pugnacity and aggressiveness They can do some serious damage with their long claws. They sometimes bite with their semi-toothed muzzle and hold on like a pit bull. Females are generally accommodating to other females. Fights sometimes break out between males. Sloth bears have been observed fighting with tigers and holding their own. One ranger told Smithsonian magazine he observed a sloth bear slap a tiger in the face and push it away. The tiger fled after that. The same ranger said the once saw a sloth bear take on three large tigers, each of which fled in a different direction after the encounter. However, tigers do kill sloth bears more often than visa versa. In most cases a tiger can kill a sloth bear of it wants to but is fearful if suffering severe wounds in the process. Sloth bears are regarded as very intelligent, employing reasoning when they feed. Sometimes before a rainstorm they dig a number of small holes in a termite nest and allow the rain to make them bigger before they dig up the hole. Like other bears, sloth bears can stand up on their hind legs, It first though this was a sign of aggression but it turns out they seem to do it to get a better view or survey the landscape and. more importantly, to sniff the air for food or danger.
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Post by brobear on Mar 10, 2018 8:13:28 GMT -5
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloth_bear Relationships with other animals[edit] The large canine teeth of sloth bears, relative to both its overall body size and to the size of the canine teeth of other bear species, and the aggressive disposition of sloth bears, may be a defense in interactions with large, dangerous animals, such as the tiger, elephant, and rhinoceros. Bengal tigers occasionally prey on sloth bears. Tigers usually give sloth bears a wide berth, though some specimens may become habitual bear killers, and it is not uncommon to find sloth bear fur in tiger scats. Tigers typically hunt sloth bears by waiting for them near termite mounds, then creeping behind them and seizing them by the back of their necks and forcing them to the ground with their weight. One tiger was reported to simply break its victim's back with its paw, then wait for the paralysed bear to exhaust itself trying to escape before going in for the kill. When confronted by tigers face to face, sloth bears charge at them, crying loudly. A young or already sated tiger usually retreats from an assertive sloth bear, as the bear's claws can inflict serious wounds, and most tigers end the hunt if the bears become aware of the tiger's presence before the pounce. Sloth bears may scavenge on tiger kills. As tigers are known to mimic the calls of sambar deer to attract them, sloth bears react fearfully even to the sounds made by deer themselves. In 2011, a female bear with cubs was observed to stand her ground and prevail in a confrontation against two tigers (one female, one male) in rapid succession. Leopards can also be a threat, as they are able to follow sloth bears up trees. Sloth bears occasionally chase leopards from their kills. Sloth bears are sympatric with Asiatic black bears in northern India, and the two species, along with the sun bear, coexist in some of the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. They are also found together in Assam, Manipur, and Mizoram, in the hills south of the Brahmaputra River, the only places occupied by all three bear species. The three species do not act aggressively toward each other. This may be because the three species generally differ in habit and dietary preferences. Dhole packs may attack sloth bears, though they are not a usual prey item. When attacking them, dholes try to prevent the bear from retreating into caves. In one case, a golden jackal (a species much smaller and less powerful than a sloth bear and not generally a pack hunter as is the dhole) was seen to aggressively displace an adult bear which passively loped away from the snapping canid, indicating the sloth bear does not regard other carnivores as competition. Asian elephants apparently do not tolerate sloth bears in their vicinity. The reason for this is unknown, as individual elephants known to maintain their composure near tigers have been reported to charge bears. The Indian rhinoceros has a similar intolerance for sloth bears, and will charge at them.
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Post by brobear on Mar 10, 2018 8:28:53 GMT -5
I have just finished reading numerous descriptions of sloth bear behavior as related to aggression. It appears that there are two opposite opinions on this subject. One side claims the sloth bear to be perhaps the world's most aggressive bear. This because, unlike other tree-climbing bear species, the sloth bear prefers to stand his ground against enemies such as leopard or even tiger. Also because each year there are serious human injuries and even death due to sloth bear attacks. The other side claims that the sloth bear is not normally aggressive. His survival strategy to fight rather than flee up a tree is simply a different survival strategy that most often works unless ambushed from behind. As for people being attacked, sloth bears are very noisy feeders and are thus easily taken by surprise. Their eye-site and hearing are poor ( according to a few articles I read ). Their Peripheral vision is extremely poor. Reply
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Post by brobear on Mar 10, 2018 9:31:44 GMT -5
Both the barren ground grizzly and the Tibetan blue bear ( as well as the Gobi bear ) have been known to charge at people even when the distance between bear and man is more than adequate for the bear to simply walk away. This Occurring in wide-open spaces where visibility is good. This is why I believe that there is a certain amount of truth in the way Lewis and Clark and other early explorers of Western North America during the early 1800s. I really don't think that a sloth bear would charge a man, a tiger, or anything else provided he is in an open space with plenty of room to leave.
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Post by brobear on Mar 10, 2018 9:36:07 GMT -5
hosted-hunts.com/destination-search-temp/biggame/alaska-barren-ground-grizzly-hunt-10360/ Grizzly bears are the undisputed monarchs of the open tundra and mountains of Alaska. In this Arctic area they live farther north than any others of their species. These bears are considered by many to be the most beautiful grizzlies in the world. With the highly prized “Toklat” color phase predominating. Barren ground bears can be ornery. They display an unpleasant temperament more often than any other bear in North America. Because seasons are short and protein hard to come by they have to work for a living and their disposition reflects this. Fortunately they are not called “barren ground” grizzlies for no reason. You can generally spot them before they spot you, miles away from your vantage point lookouts. Our outfitter prides himself on having one the best true interior grizzly bear hunts available today.
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Post by brobear on Mar 10, 2018 9:49:06 GMT -5
www.outdooradventuresworldwide.com/hunting-destinations/grizzly-brown-bear/alaskan-grizzly-bear/ Description: Grizzly bears are the undisputed monarchs of the open tundra and mountains of Alaska. In this outfitter’s Arctic area they live farther north than any others of their species. These bears are the most beautiful grizzlies in the world. With the highly prized "Toklat" color phase predominating. Barren ground bears can be ornery. They display an unpleasant temperament more often than any other bear in North America. Because seasons are short and protein hard to come by they have to work for a living and their disposition reflects this. They are nearly as likely to approach a hunter at a dead run when they see us as they are to flee. This can make for a very exciting hunt. Fortunately they are not called "barren ground" grizzlies for no reason. Hunters can generally spot them before they spot us miles away from our vantage point lookouts. This outfitter prides itself on having perhaps the best true interior grizzly bear hunt in the world. It is literally impossible to find a better true barren ground grizzly hunt.
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Post by brobear on Mar 10, 2018 9:55:11 GMT -5
www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/animal-behaviour/heres-the-spot-where-all-three-north-american-bears-rub-shaggy-shoulders/ Until a few decades ago, grizzly bears were considered extirpated from Manitoba, the southern prairies of which they formerly swaggered around. Beginning in the 1990s, however, sporadic observations began trickling in from the province's subarctic north; as a park warden at Wapusk, Clark himself logged the second confirmed sighting of a grizzly in northern Manitoba in 1998. Clark told the CBC this month that local traditional knowledge suggests the occasional presence of grizzlies in the Wapusk region in the more distant past. The rising number of observations this century of the silver-tipped bears, though, seems to suggest a genuine increase in the area, likely an expansion into northern Manitoba by so-called barren-ground grizzlies from populations in Nunavut to the north. These high-latitude grizzlies of northern Canada and Alaska are among the smallest and scrappiest brown bears in North America, roaming vast lean tundra territories and hunting ungulates – caribou and muskoxen – to a greater extent than many other grizzly populations. Barren-ground grizzlies have strayed deep into polar-bear territory in the past several decades: they've been documented as far north as Melville Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, where some grizzlies appear to be stalking the sea ice rather like their big white cousins. American black bears, meanwhile, reach the northern limits of their range where the boreal forest (taiga) of Canada and Alaska yields to Arctic tundra. Black bears are predominantly forest-dwellers, a habitat preference that may at least partly be a strategy to avoid grizzlies, which will kill black bears (even eat them) but, with their long, straight foreclaws, are poor tree-climbers. Southwestern Wapusk encompasses the ecotone between taiga and tundra, and the park's southeast includes partly timbered coastal fens, both offering refuge for black bears. The park notes, however, that black bears have been seen "at camps far out on the tundra" as well – a local expression, perhaps, of a broader trend, as black bears have recently showed up well north along the tundra coast of Hudson Bay near the Nunavut community of Arviat as well as barren northernmost Quebec. A few years back, Clark tweeted a series of snapshots showing all three bear species lumbering past the very same Wapusk trail camera within the space of seven months: a polar bear in November 2013, then a black and grizzly in May of the following year. According to CBC News, Clark suspects barren-ground grizzlies may possibly be denning in the Wapusk area, given the same bear has triggered the same camera in successive years. A 2009 report on the increasing grizzly presence in Wapusk suggested the park's interior peatlands, which are home to one of the largest maternity denning zones for polar bears in the world, could offer similar "winter haven" for grizzlies. That report suggested that if grizzlies did indeed overwinter in the Wapusk peatlands, they might potentially pose a threat in spring to freshly emerged polar-bear cubs. (In 1991, a barren-ground grizzly likely killed a two-year-old polar bear in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.) On their hardscrabble diet, barren-ground grizzlies usually max out around 227 to 272 kilograms (500 to 600 lbs.); polar bears (and the brown bears of coastal southern Alaska) may be twice that weight. Yet observations from whale-carcass scavenging bonanzas on the Alaskan North Slope suggest grizzlies, despite their size disadvantage, can dominate polar bears due to a generally meaner disposition. And then of course there are the much-publicised grizzly/polar-bear hybrids that have been periodically showing up along the leading edge of the barren-ground grizzly’s northward expansion. Just how polar bears and grizzlies are getting along in Wapusk National Park – and how both interact with the black bear – isn't clear, but Clark and his team's findings suggest this might well be the best place in North America to scrutinise the interrelations among these three husky cousins.
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