Six Of Eight Bear Species Worldwide Face Extinction Threat - Sun Bear Makes Red List - Telegraph

[hatrack]

Six of the eight species of bear in the world are now officially classed as facing extinction. The smallest, the sun bear, is the latest to be classified as vulnerable on the Red List of Threatened Species. Of the other species four - Asiatic black bear, Sloth bear, Andean bear and Polar bear - are also listed as vulnerable.

The giant panda is facing the greatest threat and remains in the endangered category. There is least concern over the European brown bear and the American black bear.

The sun bear found in Souteast Asia, Sumatra and Borneo, will be included in the 2007 Red List drawn up by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Previously it was known as 'Data Defficient' meaning not enough was known about it to give it a classification.

Rob Steinmetz, co-chair of the IUCN Bear Specialist Group's sun bear expert team, said: "Although we still have lot to learn about the biology and ecology of this species, we are quite certain that it is in trouble.

EDIT

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml;jsessionid=HN44YE23WJBGDQFIQMFSFFOAVCBQ0IV0?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2007/11/12/eabears112.xml

[XemaSab]

1. What about the grizzly bear?

:shrug:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. what about the brown bear? or the black bear?

I am worried about them in my part of the world. I know a group of hunters who have already killed 4 this season (brown, I think).

[losthills]

3. Between Global Warming, Peak Oil,

and expanding human population growth, it will be a miracle if our great grand-children will live to see any kind of a bear in the wild.

Or have any comprehension of what the term, "In the wild" ever meant....

[Gato Moteado]

4. this is one of the ads i saw at the bottom of the page when i opened this thread....

Bear Hunt Alaska
Take a fully guided brown bear or grizzly hunt in remote Alaska.
AlaskaFrontierGuides.com


sheesh!

[losthills]

5. At least we will always have

"Grizzly Bear Ringtones......"