Editing Cave bear (section)

===Mortality===
[[File:Ursus spelaeus juvenile.jpg|thumb|upright|Standing skeleton of juvenile cave bear]]
Death during hibernation was a common end for cave bears, mainly befalling specimens that failed ecologically during the summer season through inexperience, sickness or old age.<ref name="Bjorn">{{cite book | author = Kurten, Bjorn | title = Pleistocene Mammals of Europe | year = 1968 | page = 325 | isbn = 0-202-30953-3 | publisher = AldineTransaction | location = New Brunswick, N.J.}}</ref> Some cave bear bones show signs of numerous ailments, including [[spinal fusion]], [[bone tumour]]s, [[Dental caries|cavities]], [[Root resorption|tooth resorption]], [[necrosis]] (particularly in younger specimens), [[osteomyelitis]], [[periostitis]], [[rickets]] and [[kidney stones]].<ref name="Bearalmanac"/> There is also evidence that cave bears suffered from tuberculosis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marciszak |first=Adrian |last2=Mackiewicz |first2=Paweł |last3=Borówka |first3=Ryszard K. |last4=Capalbo |first4=Chiara |last5=Chibowski |first5=Piotr |last6=Gąsiorowski |first6=Michał |last7=Hercman |first7=Helena |last8=Cedro |first8=Bernard |last9=Kropczyk |first9=Aleksandra |last10=Gornig |first10=Wiktoria |last11=Moska |first11=Piotr |last12=Nowakowski |first12=Dariusz |last13=Ratajczak-Skrzatek |first13=Urszula |last14=Sobczyk |first14=Artur |last15=Sykut |first15=Maciej T. |last16=Zarzecka-Szubińska |first16=Katarzyna |last17=Kovalchuk |first17=Oleksandr |last18=Barkaszi |first18=Zoltán |last19=Stefaniak |first19=Krzysztof |last20=Mazza |first20=Paul P. A. |date=29 April 2024 |title=Fate and preservation of the Late Pleistocene cave bears from Niedźwiedzia Cave in Poland, through taphonomy, pathology, and geochemistry |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-60222-3 |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |doi=10.1038/s41598-024-60222-3 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=11059340 |pmid=38684693 |access-date=24 July 2024}}</ref> Male cave bear skeletons have been found with broken [[baculum|bacula]], probably due to fighting during the breeding season.<ref name="Bjorn"/> Cave bear [[longevity]] is unknown, though it has been estimated that they seldom exceeded twenty years of age.<ref name="bieder">{{cite book | author = Bieder, Robert | title = Bear | year = 2005 | page = 192 | isbn = 1-86189-204-7 | publisher = Reaktion Books | place = London }}</ref> Paleontologists doubt adult cave bears had any natural predators, save for pack-hunting [[Gray wolf|wolves]] and [[cave hyena]]s, which would probably have attacked sick or infirm individuals.<ref name="bieder"/> Cave hyenas are thought to be responsible for the disarticulation and destruction of some cave bear skeletons. Such large carcasses were an optimal food resource for the hyenas, especially at the end of the winter, when food was scarce.<ref name="hyena">{{cite web|url=https://nts1.cgu.cz/bulletin/contents/2006/vol81no4/237_diedrich.pdf |title=Prey deposits and den sites of the Upper Pleistocene hyena Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss, 1823)in horizontal and vertical caves of the Bohemian Karst |work=CAJUSG. DIEDRICH & KARELŽÁK |access-date=2008-01-20 }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The presence of fully articulated adult [[Panthera leo spelaea|cave lion]] skeletons, deep in cave bear dens, indicates the lions may have occasionally entered dens to prey on hibernating cave bears, with some dying in the attempt.<ref>[http://www.fns.uniba.sk/fileadmin/kalendar/2009/symposium/Abstract_book.pdf 15th International Cave Bear Symposium – Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331031106/http://www.fns.uniba.sk/fileadmin/kalendar/2009/symposium/Abstract_book.pdf |date=March 31, 2010 }}. 17–20 September 2009. (PDF). Retrieved on 2011-09-26.</ref>