Despite their heavy build and awkward gait, they are adept runners, climbers, and swimmers. They may be diurnal or nocturnal and have an excellent sense of smell. With the exception of courting individuals and mothers with their young, bears are typically solitary animals. While the polar bear is mostly carnivorous, and the giant panda feeds almost entirely on bamboo, the remaining six species are omnivorous with varied diets. Common characteristics of modern bears include large bodies with stocky legs, long snouts, small rounded ears, shaggy hair, plantigrade paws with five nonretractile claws, and short tails.

Bears are found on the continents of North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere and partially in the Southern Hemisphere. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans.

Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae ( / ˈ ɜːr s ɪ d iː, - d aɪ/).

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