Who is the "King" of the bears?

[Pckts]

(10-27-2016, 03:20 AM)Polar Wrote:

(10-27-2016, 03:05 AM)Pckts Wrote: III. Competition with Other Carnivores

Here I think the advantage goes to the Brown bear for "extant bears", they must compete with Wolf packs and possibly cougars although neither animal truly needs to "compete" with another carnivore once they are adults, they are usually the apex of their home.

If anything, the sloth bear has the highest competition with other carnivores.
Tigers, Dholes, Snakes, Wolves and leopards.

Another important question under this section to ask is if these two bears are the dominant bears of other carnivores or other bears in their domains? Please note that this answer excludes humans and only includes carnivores in their natural setting.

Sloth bears do have extremely high competition with other carnivores, but in no apparent way are they the dominant carnivores of their domain. Tigers still prey on them. Same with sun bears. Barely any information hints at whether the spectacled bear is or isn't the dominant carnivore of its range.

On the other hand, different brown bear subspecies share different carnivores in their respective domains. Examples of this include: Ussuri Brown Bears vs Amur Tigers vs Amur Wolves, and North American Brown Bear subspecies vs Wolves vs Cougars. Brown bears in North America are much more dominant in their domains: countless examples of recorded evidence proves that they usually win encounters with wolves or cougars. With Siberian brown bears, however, it is not entirely conclusive whether the brown bear or the tiger is dominant. What could be said, though, is that extremely large brown bears are usually more dominant. Brown bears may only be completely dominant in some areas, but not so in others.

Add adaptability, and brown bears are good qualifiers for winning section III. They are only 'qualifiers' because polar bear reigns supreme in its own kingdom (with the exception of thieving brown bears) with no apparent competition. No competition for polar bear versus greater adaptability for brown bear? Your pick.

I didn't mean that Sloth were the dominant predator, since they aren't carnivorous, just that they probably have the most competition, like Ussuri Brown bears, they must compete with Tigers and wolves (not as formidable as Amur Wolves once were) and more.
The Ussuri Brown Bear has two serious competitors but their terrain is so sparse, their habitat so depleted and their competitors numbers are staggeringly low, the likely hood of them coming into contact with said competitors is probably far lower statistically.
At the end of the day, whatever bear needs to compete with a Tiger is going to have the advantage in this category. Nothing really can challenge it other than a Tiger in a Bears chosen Territory. Reply