Short-faced bear (SciiFii)

The short-faced bear (Arctodus simus), also known as the bulldog bear, is a species of bear that originally inhabited North America during the Pleistocene epoch from about 1.8 Mya until 11,000 years ago and was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction by SciiFii and reintroduced to the modern forests, open woodlands, and grasslands of North America to help boost biodiversity. It is one of the most common North American bears and among the most abundant in California. The short-faced bear is often considered to be one of the largest known terrestrial mammalian carnivores that has ever existed, although the Andrewsarchus is much larger. The short-faced bear can weigh about 900 kg (1 short ton) on average, however, the largest being around 957 kg (2,110 lb) is not uncommon. When walking on all fours, a shiort-faced bear can stand about 5–6 feet (1.5–1.8 m) high at the shoulder, tall enough to look an adult human in the eye. When standing on its back legs, the short-faced bear can stand up to 12 feet (3.66 m) tall. The short-faced bear is the most carnivorous of all living bears, being able to hunt animals as big as or slightly bigger than itself, making the short-faced bear a brutish predator that overwhelms large mammals with its great physical strength. However, it usually feeds on pigs, peccaries, and other animals smaller than itself, as its limbs, despite being strong, are too gracile for such an attack strategy most of its time. Because its long legs enable it to run at speeds of 50–70 km/h (30–40 mph), it can also hunt by running down herbivores such as wild horses, saiga antelopes, and even prey such as baby mammoths. However, during pursuit of speedy game animals, the bear's sheer physical mass and plantigrade gait is a handicap; brown bears can run at the same speed but quickly tire and cannot keep up a chase for long. The short-faced bear's skeletons do not articulate in a way that would allow for quick turns – an ability required of any predator that survives by chasing down agile prey. It moves in a pacing motion like other living bears, making it built more for endurance than for great speed. The conservation status of the short-faced bear is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts and the short-faced bear's wide natural range.
Category:Animals
Category:SciiFii