The Malay Bear is Biruang. The Malay Bear is the rarest species

The Malay Bear (or Biruang) is a representative of the Bear family. The name comes from the Greek word hela, which means "sun". The reason for this "name" was a milky-white or light beige stain on the chest of the beast, resembling the sunrise. The word arcto is translated as "bear". Hence, helarctos - translates as "a solar bear".

The local population calls him a bear-dog for the small size of the animal.

The Malayan bear also has one more "name" - biruang. It is a predator belonging to the genus Malayan bears.

External Data

Today we will introduce you to the smallest representative of the whole family, whose "name" is Biruang ("the sun bear"). The Malayan bear has an elongated, somewhat incoherent body, not more than 1.5 m long, its height at the withers is no more than 70 cm, weight about 65 kg. Males are larger than females by about 10-20%.

The Malayan bear is a stocky animal with a short and broad snout. Ears are round, small in size. High limbs come to an end with huge paws. They are very strong, the soles completely bare. Nails long, curves, very sharp. A long and sticky tongue probably helps the beast to extract honey and destroy the termite.

Of all species, the Malay bear has the largest fangs. The teeth of these animals easily tear the meat, but since the biruangs are not too carnivorous, they use their fangs as a weapon or as a tool for gnawing wood to get the coveted insects.

Wool and color

The Malay Bear has a beautiful fur coat. The fur is short, resin black in color. Only the sides of the muzzle and the stain on the chest are painted grayish-yellow or orange. There is an opinion that this stain is probably used to intimidate competitors. Sometimes the limbs are covered with light fur.

Habitat

The Malayan bear is an animal that leads a solitary lifestyle. The only exception is mothers with cubs.

Biruang is spread over a vast territory - from the north of India, the south of China, in Thailand, on the Indochina peninsula to Indonesia.

Lifestyle

The Malay Bear is a predator inhabiting the subtropical and tropical forests and mountains of southeast Asia. Biruang perfectly climbs trees. He is a nocturnal animal, he often sleeps on the branches in the daytime, in the nests he has built. Here, on the trees, he sits on fruit and leaves. Unlike their northern brethren, it does not fall asleep in winter. In captivity, this bear lives up to 24 years.

Despite its size, this small but powerful Malay bear is a formidable predator. Even the tiger tries to avoid meetings with him whenever possible.

Food

The Malay Bear (biruang) is an omnivorous animal. Its diet consists of fruits, earthworms, bees (wild), termites and other insects, small mammals, birds, lizards.

Local residents often complain that biruang damages the palm trees - it eats their tender shoots, bananas. Often, the raids of these animals suffer from cocoa plantations.

The Malay bear has such strong jaws that it easily opens coconuts.

Strong paws and very long claws (up to 15 cm), he easily destroys termitek and bee hives. So he gets to honey, and also to the bee larvae.

The Malay Bear is the rarest species in its family. A distinctive feature of this beast is a sticky and long tongue that helps to easily extract from termite nests, insects from the bark of trees.

Features of behavior

Biruang is the most "arboreal" kind of bear. Thanks to the powerful claws on four paws, they perfectly climb trees.

The Malayan bear is most active at night. These funny animals spend most of their life in the branches of trees. Here, at an altitude of 2-7 m, they build strong decking (nests), on which they rest, sleep, and also take sunbathing.

The life of these animals under natural conditions is still poorly understood. Experts argue that this bear is quite aggressive, and even in support of their words give examples of attacks on people with a very sad outcome.

On the mainland this bear is not considered dangerous. Residents are sure that the attacks in question can only be committed by bears protecting their offspring.

In fact, Malayan bears are timid and harmless beings when they are not disturbed. Even females with cubs avoid meeting a person in every possible way.

In the homeland, biruanga is often kept in captivity as a kind and amusing beast, allowed to play with children.

Reproduction

The mating season of the Malayan bears lasts from two to seven days. At this time, the female and male behave very characteristically. They embrace, playfully fight and jump.

Mating can occur at any time of the year, which indicates the absence of a particular mating season. In the zoo in Berlin, the Biruanga bear gave offspring twice a year - in April and August. But this is, rather, an exception than the rule.

On average, the pregnancy lasts 95 days, but cases of delayed penetration of a fertilized egg are not uncommon. For example, in the Fort Worth zoo three pregnancies of one bear continued for 174, 228 and 240 days.

Offspring

Usually the female brings 1-2, much less than 3 cubs. As a rule, the birth takes place in a secluded place, in a previously prepared nest. Babies are born completely helpless, blind, naked and weigh not more than 300 grams.

From this moment, life and physical development bearish entirely depend on the mother. Puppies need external stimulation of excretory systems. This is necessary for normal cleansing of the intestine and bladder. This procedure is required for babies up to 2 months. In nature, this work is carried out by a bear, carefully licking the young. In captivity bear cubs are washed several times a day.

Kids develop rapidly. Already to three months they run independently (fast), play and eat with the mother additional food. Mother's milk is present in their diet for up to four months.

The skin of newborn babies is initially colored black and gray. The mark on the chest and muzzle are dirty white. The eyes of the kids open to the 25th day, but they do not have a full vision until the 50th day. Approximately at the same time the puppies begin to hear. The first dairy fangs are cut at the 7th month, and a full set of teeth is formed by 18 months.

Mother teaches the cubs that you can eat, where this food can be found. Approximately up to 2.5 years, cubs remain with their mother.

Benefit and harm to man

Despite the fact that the number of Malayan bears decreases annually, people continue to destroy them mercilessly. Many of them hunt, pursuing sports interest, and also kill for sale.

Some parts of the body of biruang are used in medicine. This practice began back in China around 3500 BC. E., and the first mention of the use of the gall bladder biruang refers to the VII century AD. E. Bile gall is successfully used in Chinese medicine. It is used to treat bacterial infections and inflammations. There is an opinion that the gall bladder of a bear (the remedy from it) is capable of increasing the potency of men.

From the fur of biruanga on the island of Borneo they make hats. In some areas, bears play an extremely important role in the spread of plant seeds.

Unfortunately, the Malayan bear is capable of causing irreparable damage to coconut and banana plantations.

Population

Today the Malay Bear (Biruang) is listed in the Red Book. Experts find it difficult to name the exact number of these animals that live in natural conditions, but there are data on a significant annual decrease in their numbers.

A huge role in this process is played by the destruction of the animal habitat. This forces the Biruangs to live in very small and often isolated areas.