However, all bears are short-tempered and get angry quickly. They are fierce fighters and will attack anything that seems to threaten them or their cubs, food, or homes. An angry bear moves quickly in spite of its great size. One blow from its powerful front paws can kill even large animals, such as cattle and deer. The long, thick claws are also dangerous weapons.
Few bears lose a fight with another kind of animal.
Wild bears live from 15 to more than 30 years. In zoos, a brown bear has lived as long as 47 years, and a polar bear for 34 years. In addition, some zoologists classify pandas as bears. But other zoologists place pandas in the raccoon family or in a family of their own. For information about pandas, see Panda .