Why Are There No Bears In Australia?

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Why Are There No Bears In Australia?

Bears are mammals that belong to the family Ursidae. They are covered in thick fur and have long snouts, short tails, and non-retractable claws. Sizes between the different bear species are hugely variable.
The largest of the bears is the polar bear, along with the Kodiak bear which is a subspecies of Brown bear. These bears can measure almost 10 feet in length and weigh up to 1500 pounds. In comparison, the smallest of the bear species is the sun bear which grows up to 55 inches long and can weigh 140 pounds.
There are 8 species of bears in total. They inhabit wide and varied habitats across the globe but none is found in Australia. The wrongly named koala bear, unique to Australia, is not a bear at all but is a marsupial like kangaroos and opossums.
In fact, Australia has a unique mammalian fauna that doesn’t include any land predators larger than the dingo. And even the dingo was an introduced species brought to Australia thousands of years ago.
So why does Australia have such unique and fascinating wildlife and why doesn’t it have any bears?

#bear #australia #wildlife

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Why are there no bears in Australia?
Have you seen the other animals in Australia? The bears heard about that stuff, immediately booked a trip to *anywhere else, * left and never looked back.

glenwaldrop

Person 1: Hey Why Aren't Koalas Considered Bears
Person 2: Because They're Marsupials
Person 1: Because They're Marsupials, No It's Cuz They Don't Have The Right Koalafications

PlotagonLikerGoanimateHater

There's a huge bear who keeps waking up from its hibernation. He ripped my neighbors shed door straight off its hinges. I was walking past with my dogs when I heard a crash and then watched it just walk away like nothing happened.

lukethompson

Oceania is the smallest continent in the world and the only continent in the world made up of only islands, thus considering that Australia is an island and by far the largest one, this makes fair sense as the smallest continent in the world gets to have the largest island in the world.

indyreno

Bears are carnivorans of the family Ursidae, there are fifteen extant bear species within five genera and two subfamilies, bears are currently native everywhere except for Africa, Oceania, and Antarctica

Taxonomy:
• Family: Ursidae (Bears)
•• Subfamily: Tremarctinae (Short-Faced Bears)
••• Genus: Tremarctos (Modern Short-Faced Bears)
•••• Species: Tremarctos ornatus (Spectacled Bear)
•• Subfamily: Ursinae (Long-Snouted Bears)
••• Tribe: Melursini (Sloth Bears and Fossil Relatives)
•••• Genus: Melursus (Sloth Bears)
••••• Species: Melursus ursinus (Indian Sloth Bear)
••••• Species: Melursus inornatus (Sri Lanka Sloth Bear)
••• Tribe: Ursini (Small-Eared Bears)
•••• Subtribe: Helarctina (Sun Bears and Fossil Relatives)
••••• Genus: Helarctos (Sun Bears)
•••••• Species: Helarctos indochinensis (Indochinese Sun Bear)
•••••• Species: Helarctos malayanus (Sumatran Sun Bear)
•••••• Species: Helarctos euryspilus (Bornean Sun Bear)
•••• Subtribe: Ursina (Common Bears)
••••• Genus: Euarctos (New World Common Bears)
•••••• Species: Euarctos americanus (American Black Bear)
•••••• Species: Euarctos emmonsii (Glacier Bear)
•••••• Species: Euarctos cinnamomum (Cinnamon Bear)
•••••• Species: Euarctos kermodei (Kermode Bear)
••••• Genus: Ursus (Old World Common Bears)
•••••• Subgenus: Ursus (Brown Bear Lineage)
••••••• Species: Ursus (Ursus) arctos (Brown Bear)
•••••• Subgenus: Argentarctos (Silver Bear Lineage)
••••••• Species: Ursus (Argentarctos) syraicus (Silver Bear)
•••••• Subgenus: Cyanarctos (Blue Bear Lineage)
••••••• Species: Ursus (Cyanarctos) pruinosus (Blue Bear)
•••••• Subgenus: Selenarctos (Asiatic Black Bear Lineage)
••••••• Species: Ursus (Selenarctos) thibetanus (Asiatic Black Bear)
•••••• Subgenus: Thalassarctos (Polar Bear Lineage)
••••••• Species: Ursus (Thalassarctos) maritimus (Polar Bear)

indyreno

bears were too tame compared to the other creatures of the land that were more lethal. i mean there is the koala bear, but apparently anything that would eat it would be stoned for days

daxconnell

Nope. Not millions of years. You have absolutely NO PROOF OF THAT.

shaynepace

I’m pretty sure a Kodiak would eat all the crocs

barnetthejosh

A bear would not stand a chance trying to catch a kangaroo

lil-mackiie

why in australia never livd big group hunter marsupials

anakipiani

Bears, and other large placental predators like big cats, wolves, and hyenas never made it to Australia. Large placental herbivores like elephants, rhinos, buffalo, pigs, tapirs, deer, etc, etc, etc... never made it either.

The reason for this is because of the deep ocean trenches that are between Australia/New Guinea, and mainland Asia. Even in times of low sea levels, there was still enough ocean between these two landmasses, to be barrier for large placental mammals to swim/cross.

This is the main reason that Australia remained in zoological isolation for tens of millions of years. And the reason it's unique fauna has been able to evolve undisturbed for so long. If these placental mammals had made it to Australia, the unique ecosystem dominated by marsupials, would have been destroyed millions of years ago. This is what happened to South America(another isolated continent) during the Great American Interchange. Most South American species(including many marsupials) were driven to extinction and replaced by newcomers from the North. Very few South American species became successful going North.

Ispeakthetruthify

Rip Australia's megafauna. Low-key glad theres no bear simile though.

weevil_bob

Is this a trick question?! Because it’s Australia!! 😅

touremuhammad

There are still opossums in South America.

_robustus_

that poor wombat at the end, his skin is all dry and you can tell he needs medical help for that probably mange and fleas and ticks etc poor guy

BeautyBreeBear