Editing Bear (section)

==Distribution and habitat==
[[File:Spectacled Bear 161 (2).jpg|thumb|right|The [[spectacled bear]] is the only species found in South America.<ref name="ServheenForeword"/>]]
{{Further|List of carnivorans by population}}

Extant bears are found in sixty countries primarily in the Northern Hemisphere and are concentrated in Asia, North America, and Europe. An exception is the [[spectacled bear]]; native to South America, it inhabits the [[Andes|Andean region]].<ref name="ServheenForeword"/> The [[sun bear]]'s range extends below the equator in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ward|Kynaston|1995|p=52}}</ref> The [[Atlas bear]], a subspecies of the brown bear was distributed in North Africa from Morocco to Libya, but it became extinct around the 1870s.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hamdine |first=Watik |author2=Thévenot, Michel|author3= Michaux, Jacques |year=1998 |title=Histoire récente de l'ours brun au Maghreb |journal=Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences |volume=321 |issue=7 |pages=565–570 |doi=10.1016/S0764-4469(98)80458-7 |pmid=10877599 |language=fr |bibcode=1998CRASG.321..565H }}</ref>

The most widespread species is the [[brown bear]], which occurs from Western Europe eastwards through Asia to the western areas of North America. The [[American black bear]] is restricted to North America, and the [[polar bear]] is restricted to the Arctic Ocean. All the remaining species of bear are Asian.<ref name="ServheenForeword">{{cite book |author1=Servheen, C. |author2=Herrero, S. |author3=Peyton, B. |title=Bears: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XXQ03uVmCAIC&pg=PR5 |year=1999 |publisher=IUCN |isbn=978-2-8317-0462-3 |pages=5–10 |quote=They are opportunistic omnivores whose diet varies from plant foliage, roots, and fruits; insect adults, larvae, and eggs; animal matter from carrion; animal matter from predation; and fish. Their dentition and digestive system reflects this varied diet.}}</ref> They occur in a range of habitats which include tropical lowland rainforest, both coniferous and broadleaf forests, prairies, steppes, montane grassland, alpine scree slopes, Arctic tundra and in the case of the polar bear, [[Drift ice|ice floes]].<ref name="ServheenForeword"/><ref name=Walker/> Bears may dig their dens in hillsides or use caves, hollow logs and dense vegetation for shelter.<ref name=Walker/>