TRUTH OR TAIL? All bears are carnivores
Posted on Thursday, September 15th, 2022
TAIL! Bears are actually omnivores, eating a variety of plants, insects, and animals, and what they eat usually depends on the time of year and which food sources are available. Polar bears are the most carnivorous of the bears - eating mostly seals. Panda bears on the other hand eat 99% bamboo shoots and leaves. Sloth bears like Shiva and Balawat at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo are specifically built to eat termites and ants (and occasional treats like corn - pictured below). They don't have front teeth (incisors) and they have a long lower lip which allows them to suck up termites like a vacuum cleaner. They can also close their nostrils to prevent ants from crawling in their nose! Andean bears like Alfred and Cay eat a lot of fruit and leaves. Unlike their fictional counterpart Paddington, they do not eat marmalade sandwiches - but they do like sweets like berries and honey.
