---

That is a screenshot of an Alaskan coastal brown bear that I took through the Explore.org live Katmai Bear Cam in October, while sitting comfortably in my home in Oregon.

The blog has had occasional Ursid Thursday posts, but there is so much more to family Ursidae than we could possibly get into here today!

We can touch upon a few of the high points with videos, though.

For instance —

How bears evolved

This is one possible path (not fact-checked, but the channel is a good one):

---

🐻🐻🐻

---

PBS Eons gets into the history a bit, too:

---

---

And then there are back scratches —

— as well as…

Facts about bears

Pop quiz: How many kinds of bears are there in the world?

See the Bear Specialist Group page, too.

---

🐻🐻🐻

---

Here’s one set of species facts for kids:

More information:

• Do Alaskan bears really sleep all winter? What is hibernation, anyway?
• Bear safety suggestions from the National Park Service, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, the Minnesota DNR, and Parks Canada (polar bears; PDF download)
• IUCN Red List status and the Bear Specialist Group

🐻🐻🐻

And finally — a full-length bear documentary!

🐻🐻🐻

---

And some lagniappe:

Happy birthday, Smokey!

---

---