Post #14562

Baribal: American bear. How is it different from Russian? Yes, Americans have their own personal bear, so what do you do with it? No, we’re not talking about grizzly bears now, because grizzly bears are a subspecies of the brown bear, which is almost no different from it. But the baribal - the American black bear - is a completely different branch of clubfoot evolution, which is noticeably different from the Russian bear we are used to! First of all, the beast differs in size. Baribals can be obscenely small. In Alaska, for example, bears weigh just like people: the average weight of a male is only 87 kilograms, and a female weighs another 20 kilograms less! But in fairness, it is worth recognizing that the bears living in the central regions of North America are much larger; they can weigh 200 or 400 kilograms. But their average weight still remains relatively small and does not exceed 120 kilograms. Whereas the average brown bear is 30-50% heavier. They also differ in appearance. Black bears have a more slender body, longer legs, and their bodies are covered in jet-black fur with a white patch on the chest. True, not for everyone. Approximately 30% of black bears are actually brown, and in the population of clubfooted bears from the Canadian island of Kermode there are even snow-white individuals! It is believed that this is the result of specification on fishing. So as not to reflect when hiding above the surface of the water. But in terms of nutrition, baribals are very close to our bears. They also respect honey, fish, nuts and berries, after hibernation they lean on meat and carrion, and in hungry years they rob trash cans in cities and villages. But adjusted for the baribal coloring, of course. Since black bears are smaller and sleeker, they spend a lot of time in trees and love to pick fruit from trees and destroy bee hives. They are also not able to take prey from packs of wolves, but they chase lynxes and lone wolves with great pleasure. True, fairly selected prey often has to be shared with a grizzly bear. And also give them the most berry meadows and the best places for dens. Life is hard for a bear who is not at the top of the food chain... However, despite the obvious oppression from brown bears, baribals are thriving: their number in the United States alone (excluding Mexico, Canada and Alaska) is approaching half a million individuals, which is more than all brown and polar bears combined! But how, being under the thumb of their big brother, do they manage to be more successful than him? And all thanks to their smallness! Baribals are much less voracious and much less demanding of environmental conditions, and their population density is higher, as is their reproduction rate. Therefore, black bears restore their numbers relatively easily and even colonize new territories, including the suburbs of human cities. And they practically do not conflict with a person and do not interfere with his life. Baribals ar