The brown bear occurs in parts of western Europe, Siberia, Japan and North America. In France, WWF is working to protect the only remaining population of brown bears left in the country, and which is threatened by a road construction project.

The Asiatic black bear lives in central and eastern Asia and is particularly threatened by trade. Also known as the moon bear, it has a distinctive crescent-shaped mark on its chest. The American black bear is the most abundant - the population now numbers more than half a million.

Excessive hunting used to threaten the polar bear. But in 1973 WWF and IUGN (the World Conservation Union) persuaded the Arctic nations to sign a convention to control hunting and promote scientific study. Since then, polar bear numbers have risen from fewer than 10,000 to 40,000 today.

However, no more than 10,000 sloth bears survive in Nepal and Sri Lanka. The sun bear form South-east Asia has probably always been rare. It loves honey and has a yellowy-orange mark on its chest. The spectacled bear is named after its characteristic eye markings. No-one knows how many exist in the Andes.

There are only 1,000 giant pandas left in the world, all of them living in China. A separate WWF factsheet on this species is available.


Current threats & problems

Bear's gall bladders and bile are regarded as an essential part of traditional Chinese medicinal cures. And bear paws are served as luxury dishes in the smart restaurants of Taiwan for the practice of "junbu". This supposedly passes on to the customer the qualities of the animal eaten - in this case, great strength.

Not only that, but live animals - more often than not cubs - are captured to be sold as dancing bears, principally in India and Pakistan.

Often in Asia and China, the animals are not killed but captured and caged, seriously depleting wild pupulations. They are then kept in appalling conditions and are systematically "milked" of their bile for Oriental medicinal markets. People in many parts of South-east Asia believe that the bear bile and gall bladder help cure ailments ranging from fevers to heart disease. The giant panda is the only bear not valued in Chinese medicine.


What WWF is doing

Fighting all of this illegal trade takes up the greatest part of WWF's work on bears. We try to persuade people with traditional views that non-animal alternatives are just as effective. But lifetime customs are difficult to change and WWF has to treat people's traditional beliefs with respect.

We also continue to lobby governments world wide to enforce wildlife protection laws and international treaties designed to protect endangered species from extinction. Along with TRAFFIC, our highly effective wildlife trade monitoring network, we investigate and expose illegal trade in bear parts and assist law enforcement agencies to crack down on dealers and smugglers.

WWF has many projects managing and protecting the bear's habitats in China, Russia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Peru.