Malay bear - description, habitat, lifestyle

Malay bear means a rather interesting beast in terms of external features, which is similar to itself only indirectly. Individuals of this type are listed in the Red Book, protected by law, and therefore any prosecution of them is strictly punishable.

Description

1. Pigmentation of the muzzle is beige with golden spots or low tide, it all depends on the individual. The rest of the body is dark brown or black. Among the similar ones, this species is significantly distinguished by overall characteristics. Individuals grow to 0.7 m at the withers maximum. As for the length of the body, the figures are approximately 1.5 m. Partly for this reason, the animals look awkward and elongated.
2. By weight characteristics, individuals make up about 70 kg, but more often you can meet not such well-fed representatives of the species. The tongue is very long, has a sticky lubricant, can curl with a tube or hang like a rope. Beasts get honey, enjoy themselves by the inhabitants of termite mounds with the help of their tongues. The fangs are pointed and elongated, not like those of other bears. Animals gnaw on the bark, tearing it and taking out insects.
3. The clubfoot creatures are endowed with beautiful large blue eyes. The visual apparatus is poorly developed, so the bears are called half-blind. But this is offset by excellent hearing and smell, which is what the animals themselves are guided by. They have a rather aggressive disposition, directly related to poor eyesight. When the clubfoot stumbles upon someone, then from perplexity begins to get angry. Despite the small weight and dimensions, these persons fight very fiercely.
4. Ears are set at a certain distance. Small in size, with rounded edges. The shell itself does not grow longer than 6 cm in length, although often these figures are limited to 4 cm. The muzzle is wide and short in format. The claws are pointed, strong, elongated. There are folds of skin on the neck, they protect clubfoot from other predators, which are usually bitten at the withers.
5. Bears are very pachyderms, so wild cats hunting by this method have a hard time. If you add to this the excessive elasticity of the skin, then cats will be left without lunch for sure. Bears are endowed with curved limbs, so their clubfoot is more pronounced than that of fellow animals. The coat is shortened.
6. Despite their miniature dimensions, these animals are distinguished by a high level of intelligence. They are smarter than self-similar, can make decisions in difficult situations. Otherwise, members of the family are called Biruangs. If we compare the overall characteristics of the average bears, they are similar to large-sized dogs. Also, the bears are tied to a chain when kept in captivity, as, however, are dogs.

Habitat

1. A fairly large number of individuals are scattered throughout the island of Borneo. Also there are representatives of the discussed family in Thailand, Indonesia, India. They are found in Laos and in Vietnam. Some are common in Sumatra and southern China.
2. Distinctive characteristics include the single nature of life. Individuals spend most of their existence upstairs on trees. Exceptions are females and their offspring. They try to stay in the area close to the males, who will protect in case of danger.
3. Animals are mostly awake at night. They like the darkness and cloudy weather. In the daytime, they rest in their shelters. In normal times, a den is built on a tree, using branches and twigs for this. If suddenly the animal falls into captivity, it is easy to get used to and succumb to training.

Breeding

1. With the onset of the mating season, representatives of the stronger sex begin to care for females for about a crescent. Only after that the male manages to win the attention of the chosen one. Then pairing occurs. It lasts for several days. The female carries offspring for 200 days.
2. After that, up to 3 babies are born. They are completely defenseless, practically devoid of wool and blind. Individuals reach puberty from 3 to 5 years. The first couple of years of life, the young remains to live with his mother. Bear cubs feed on milk for about 4 months. For about 2 months, babies do not leave the shelter at all.
3. Cubs begin to run out of the house approximately 2.5-3 months after birth. Sometimes they already begin to go hunting with their mother. In this way, offspring learn wild life. If you keep the animal in captivity, it can live a quarter century. As for wild conditions, bears rarely live to be 18 years old.
4. Animals have long been listed in the Red Book. The problem is that the number of this species still continues to decline. This is because poachers, despite everything, continue to hunt wild animals. Local healers use the liver and bile of the animal for medicinal purposes to eliminate various ailments. Also, the number of bears is declining due to the massive deforestation of rainforests.

Role for man

1. Nowadays, more and more people continue to hunt individuals rather because of sports interest. Hunters also sell various parts of the animal’s body. As mentioned earlier, some organs are used in traditional medicine. Moreover, such drugs have a long history.
2. In traditional Chinese medicine, bear bile is still used today. Such a tool is effective for the treatment and prevention of bacterial infections. Among the local population there is a belief that such a composition perfectly affects male power. Bile significantly increases libido in both men and women.
3. In addition, wild animal bile is considered a powerful tool for the treatment of quite serious pathologies. The Chinese claim that even fatal diseases can be cured. Animal hair is mainly used for making hats.
4. In some regions, individuals play an important role. Animals carry the seeds of various plants. In just one specimen of bear excrement, more than 300 seeds were found that could well germinate. Otherwise, the animals damage the harvest of bananas and coconut plantations.

Status

1. As mentioned earlier, animals are listed in the Red Book. Such bears are considered one of the rarest among their relatives. There are so few animals that it is not even possible to establish with accuracy how many animals are left in total.
2. It is noteworthy that every year the number of wild animals is still declining. Due to the fact that habitats are being destroyed, bears die. Individuals are forced to live in isolated territories.

Some residents from areas where animals are common compare individuals with aliens. And not in vain, their species is similar to an alien, therefore, the second non-scientific name of the species is aliens. In today's article, we studied everything about family members to clarify some of the nuances.

Video: Malay Bear (Helarctos malayanus)