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Bears
Sun Bear
Sun Bear
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Sun Bear
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 naturein_focus -A Sun Bear foraging under a Nephelium melliferum tree. Video by Kim McConkey and Anuttara Nathalang. Seed-dispersing animals are essential to the maintenance of tropical rainforest ecosystems. These animals can vary in size, from a tiny flowerpecker to a massive mammal such as an elephant, but they are all attracted to the fruit reward that surrounds the seeds of the plant. Read the full story on our website. 
A miniature among bruins, the sun Bear is the worlds smallest ursine species. The typical specimen weigh less than 90 pounds (40 kgs). It very long sharp claws aid it in climbing trees, breaking branches to make temporary arboreal beds, and tearing out insects nest to reach grubs and honey.
Book Bears - Robert Elman  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Sun bears copy each other's facial expressions to communicate
LIFE 21 March 2019 By New Scientist and Press Association  *This image is copyright of its original author Sun bears mimic each other’s facial expressions Daniela Hartmann/PA Wire The world’s smallest bears copy one another’s facial expressions as a means of communication. A team at the University of Portsmouth, UK, studied 22 sun bears at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Malaysia. In total, 21 matched the open-mouthed expressions of their playmates during face-to-face interactions. When they were facing each other, 13 bears made the expressions within 1 second of observing a similar expression from their playmate. “Mimicking the facial expressions of others in exact ways is one of the pillars of human communication,” says Marina Davila-Ross, who was part of the team. “Other primates and dogs are known to mimic each other, but only great apes and humans were previously known to show such complexity in their facial mimicry.” Sun bears have no special evolutionary link to humans, unlike monkeys or apes, nor are they domesticated animals like dogs. The team believes this means the behaviour must also be present in various other species. Also known as honey bears, sun bears are the smallest members of the bear family. They grow to between 120 centimetres and 150 centimetres long and weigh up to 80 kilograms. The species is endangered and lives in the tropical forests of South-East Asia. While the bears prefer a solitary life, the team says that they engage in gentle and rough play and may use facial mimicry to indicate they are ready to play more roughly or strengthen social bonds. “It is widely believed that we only find complex forms of communication in species with complex social systems,” says Derry Taylor, also on the team. “As sun bears are a largely solitary species, our study of their facial communication questions this belief, because it shows a complex form of facial communication that until now was known only in more social species.” https://www.newscientist.com/article/2197319-sun-bears-copy-each-others-facial-expressions-to-communicate/ 
The Shared Preference Niche of Sympatric Asiatic Black Bears and Sun Bears in a Tropical Forest Mosaic
Abstract Background Ecologically similar species often coexist by partitioning use of habitats or resources. Such partitioning can occur through divergent or shared niches. We investigated overlap in habitat use and spatial co-occurrence by sympatric Asiatic black bears and sun bears in three habitats in Thailand, and thereby assessed which niche model best accounts for their coexistence. Methods/Principal Findings We used density of species-specific signs to assess habitat use. Signs of both bear species occurred in all three habitats, and on >60% of sampling transects. Both species fed mostly on fruit; insect feeding signs were uncommon, and were mostly from sun bears. Significant differences in habitat use occurred only in montane forest, the habitat in which fruit was most abundant; incidence of black bear sign there was six times higher than that of sun bears. Habitat use was similar between the two species in the other habitats, which comprised 85% of the area. Of 10 habitat attributes examined, fruiting tree density was the best predictor of occurrence for both species. Models that included interspecific competition (fresh foraging activity of the other species) were less supported than the top models without competition. Conclusions/Significance Bear species co-occurrence at both coarse and fine spatial scales and use of the same resources (fruit trees) indicated common niche preferences. However, their habitat use differed in ways expected from their physical differences: larger black bears dominated in the most fruit-rich habitat, and smaller sun bears used less-preferred insects. These results indicate broadly overlapping fundamental niches combined with asymmetric competition—features consistent with the concept of shared preference niches. This model of the niche has received little attention in ecology, but appears to be relatively common in nature.   (06-26-2019, 03:36 AM)Sully Wrote: The plight of the sun bear @Sully Very good and interesting video thanks for sharing. |
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