There are eight species of bear living around the world today, and many more in the fossil record. "Prehistoric" mummified bears have even been found preserved in permafrost thousands of years after they died. At Live Science, our expert writers and editors bring you the latest news, features and articles about bears, whether it's American black bears evolving cinnamon-colored coats, the breeding habits of giant pandas, ferocious fights between grizzly bears, or mighty polar bears that are being forced to dine on "batteries and dirty nappies" because of climate change.
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—Why aren't there polar bears in Antarctica?
—Watch as 2 male Alaskan grizzly bears fight in an epic battle
Latest about Bears
Polar bears are getting horrific injuries and huge 'ice balls' on their paws because of climate change, researchers say
Population assessments have revealed that polar bears in Greenland are suffering from crippling wounds on their paws due to wet snow that gets stuck to the pads and freezes into blocks.
Bleak photo of polar bear with plastic in its jaws in the remote Arctic shows pollution's 'pervasive grip'
Image of polar bear with plastic hanging from its mouth shortlisted for Ocean Photographer of the Year 2024 award.
Sun bear: The little carnivores that look so similar to humans they've been mistaken for people wearing costumes
Sun bears often stand upright like humans, and mothers even walk around cradling their babies in their arms.
Polar bear sleeping on tiny iceberg drifting in Arctic sea captured in heartbreaking photo
An image captured off the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard shows a young polar bear drifting to sleep on a small iceberg after carving a bed in the ice.
Bigfoot? Sasquatch? Nope, it's probably just a black bear — unless you live in Florida
Bigfoot reports across North America have been linked to the presence of black bears, but the research can't account for sightings in Florida.
Extinct 'hypercarnivorous' California grizzly bears were actually mostly vegetarian before Europeans showed up
Although extinct California grizzlies upped their meat consumption following European colonization and agricultural expansion, they were mostly veggie and smaller than what historical sources claim.
'This is unlikely to be an isolated event': 1st polar bear death from bird flu spells trouble for species
Bird flu could be another blow for polar bear populations that are already at risk from climate change.
Half-asleep bears are wandering around Siberia because it's too hot to hibernate
Bears that are struggling to hibernate due to abnormally warm weather in Russia's Amur region are wandering around in a daze, having suppressed their metabolism in preparation for winter.
