Geographic region: North America, South America, Europe and Asia

There are eight species of bears left on earth. Below is a short description of each bear species including recommended zoos to view them and my wild encounter locations.

The North American Black Bear
Geographical Location – From Florida up into Canada and Alaska
Population in the wild – Over 600,000 in North America

Stu’s Zoo Pick for the Brown Bear –  British Columbia Wildlife Park

 

Stu’s Wild Encounter – Tofino, British Columbia

British Columbia is home to over a quarter of the black bear population in North America.  Tofino on the West coast of Vancouver Island is the only place I have seen bears in the wild.

 

The Brown Bear (Grizzly Bear)
Geographical Location – Alaska, Western Canada, Wyoming, Montana, Europe, Russia and north Asia.
Population in the wild – Over 100,00 in Eurasia , 30,000 in Alaska & Canada and less than 1000 on the main-land of the United States.

Stu’s Zoo Pick for the Brown Bear – British Columbia Wildlife Park, Bronx Zoo

 

Polar Bear – Follow link for more information

Geographical Location – Arctic Circle
Population in the wild – Approximately 20,000

 

Asiatic Bear
Geographical Location – Asia
Population in the wild – Approximately 50,000

Andean Bear (Spectacled Bear)
Geographical Location – Andes Mountains in South America
Population in the wild – Less than 3000

Panda Bear
Geographical Location – Western China
Population in the wild – may be as high as 3000

Stu’s Zoo Pick for the Panda Bear – Ocean Park Hong Kong

Sloth Bear
Geographical Location – India, Sri Lanka
Population in the wild – Approximately 7000

Sun Bear
Geographical Location – China, Indonesia, Thailand and other South East Asian nations.
Population in the wild – Less the 1000

Stu’s Zoo Pick for the Sun Bear – Perth Zoo, Dusit Zoo